On the Run
by XiaoFeng
Summary: After a tough case and a big fight, Danny and Lindsay return to their homes...only to go missing later... First CSI fic!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I have never actually been anywhere near New York in my life so I can't say for sure what's over there… So my descriptions of places might be a little vague…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

It'd been a long day. Hell, it'd been a long week. An arson case with one man dead was their first case on Monday. In the following days, the case had turned into a frightening series of seemingly random arsons. It'd gotten on everyone's nerves, especially since there seemed to be no reason at all behind the fires. They struggled to piece together all of the evidence but all their leads seemed useless and there were no good witnesses who weren't killed in the fire or in deep coma. It was frustrating, to say the least, when they were all stuck in the lab with practically nothing to go on.

What was most annoying of all was the constant wrangling between Danny and Lindsay. They'd managed to form a respect for each other but their personalities clashed a little too much. Danny teased and joked, trying to liven up the mood and the rest of the team understood that so they tried to tolerate him. Lindsay, however, accused him of not taking the case seriously. They fought and bickered so much, Mac had been forced to send them both off on completely different leads, resulting in a challenge between the two CSIs as to who would close the case first.

Whether it was a good thing or not, it was Stella and Hawkes who finally managed to link the arsonist to a crummy apartment where he lived. They arrived just in time to catch him and stop him from setting a fire to that building itself. Lindsay and Danny both congratulated Stella and Hawkes on a job well done but their fight was far from over, judging from the glares they shot at each other.

Well, at least they'd caught the guy. Now perhaps, the team could catch up on some much-needed sleep. Danny rode alone in a subway compartment, massaging the bridge of his nose. His limbs ached with bone-deep weariness. He shouldn't have taken Flack up on that offer of going out for a celebratory round of drinks. His head was already beginning to pound. One thought, however, stood alone among the rest, and it was accompanied by a petite face, framed by honey-brown locks, chocolate eyes hard and a scowl on that pretty face.

_I gotta apologize to Montana tomorrow_, He thought. They were good friends and it wasn't a good idea to keep arguing over something stupid. They'd definitely still have to work on many more cases together and Danny didn't want this little fight to mar their friendship. Danny couldn't promise he'd stop ticking her off though. It sounded childish to admit it but she looked cute when she was angry.

Lindsay rode alone too, in the compartment next to Danny's though neither CSI was aware of the other, assuming they were alone on the train. Lindsay had stayed behind to file some paperwork and now she dozed on and off in her seat, waking up every now and then to make sure she had yet to miss her stop. The train rumbled on the tracks and both detectives were tired and silent.

Lindsay too, thought about her quarrel with Danny. The man could be so immature sometimes, she thought angrily, but with that cheeky grin, she couldn't really stay mad at him for long. And anyway, deep down inside, she knew he was just trying to cheer them all up. It was just that…the case had really gotten to her, especially when one of those places that the man had burned down was an orphanage. It was dumb luck that none of the children were inside that day.

But there was no doubt in her mind what she had to do. Come morning, she was going to apologize to Danny for her bad temper.

Their ears perked up momentarily when a rowdy group of men, all stone-drunk, stumbled into Danny's compartment. Lindsay didn't bother to take notice. They probably wouldn't even know she was there. Danny only studied them for a while before ignoring them too.

Two stations later, the station-master looked at his watch. The next train was late. Checking his controls, he found the train had stopped a few feet from the station. When there was no reply from the conductor when the station-master asked for a report, the man sent a technician to check it out, just in case there was a problem with the engine or something.

The technician, a young engineer, whistled cheerfully as he walked down the tracks, waving his torchlight in the darkness. He could see the headlights of the train just up ahead. The conductor wasn't in his cabin and the technician frowned. Maybe the conductor was trying to fix the problem by himself or maybe he had some unruly passengers. Whatever it was, the man might be grateful for some back-up.

The moment he climbed onto the train, the technician was struck by how deathly silent the train was. It appeared to be empty so when a groan reached his ears, the technician jumped. He whirled around, his eyes landing on a pool of blood with a trail leading away from it, going towards the conductor's cabin. The technician followed the trail of blood to see the back of a man, limping along. He was using the metal bars as support as he clutched at his bleeding leg.

The technician was taken out of his shock when the man suddenly lost his footing and collapsed. The technician raced forward, his hands fumbling for his phone as he dialed 911.

Mac massaged his temples tiredly as he watched the paramedics carry the man out. After all the frustration and stress from the last case, Mac needed nothing more than a nice long nap and a big cup of coffee. But the city still ran and crime still happened. At least this was a fairly routine case. A man had been shot in the subway in the leg but he wasn't dead yet. Mac could only guess that he stumbled on some trigger-happy drunks or maybe he saw something he shouldn't have. In any case, it seemed to be a simple case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. And since the vic wasn't dead, he should be able to provide a description of his shooter.

Our vic's name is Nelson Evans." Flack reported as he peeked into the compartment. "The station-master just identified him as the conductor of this ride. The technician who called it in is new so he didn't recognize him immediately."

"I'll run the scene until Danny gets here," Mac said, "You follow our vic and see if he remembers anything."

Flack nodded and left to chase after the paramedics. Mac frowned at his watch, wondering what was taking Danny so long. The man would normally be here by now, and this station wasn't very far from Danny's apartment.

Maybe he wasn't awake yet. It'd been a hectic week, with that arson case and his fight with Lindsay. Mac could understand if he was exhausted and hadn't been awakened by his pager. He paged Danny again, and just so he could force them to patch things up and work together again, Mac called Lindsay in too.

Flack jogged easily after the paramedics. It wasn't a very urgent rush actually. The man had been shot in the leg and he'd lost some blood but the bleeding had been stopped already. The only thing now was to get the man to the hospital so they could extract the bullet but that was about it. Except for the obvious pain, the man wasn't in any immediate danger. He would be in crutches for a while though.

The sound of beeping filled the quiet, empty station and everyone looked down automatically at their pagers and cells. The incessant beeping continued and was soon joined by a second beeping, creating a truly annoying racket. Flack glanced around at the blank-looking uniformed officers, all of whom shrugged to show it wasn't theirs. Curious, the tall detective followed the sounds to a trash bin. He approached the bin cautiously. It might sound like a pair of pagers but who knew what the noise really was? And who threw away two perfectly good pagers anyway?

Right on top of everything was a satchel and a purse, both of which looked irritatingly familiar. Flack reached in and carefully pulled the two articles aside, revealing two buzzing pagers directly below. Flack reached for the two communication devices, and was stunned to discover that both of them just received messages from a 'Mac'.

_No way…_ Flack thought, that would be way too coincidental. There was no way this could be happening. Flack read the message on the pager and it took a moment to process the message. He was just so stunned by the way things were turning out. When it finally did, something in his chest tightened anxiously. There was an identical message on the other pager. There was no doubt right now. These two pagers belonged to people on the team and Mac had called them both to the subway station.

Flack swallowed hard, worry welling up inside him. He knew Danny was one of them, since Mac had said he was coming. But who was the other? Stella? Lindsay? Flack sort of doubted Hawkes carried a purse. Whoever it was, this was the time to tell Mac and call in the rest of the team. Flack flipped his phone open, his stomach sinking terribly. Danny was his best friend and both women were good friends of his. He still didn't want to believe that anything had happened to them.

"Mac," Mac's voice came professionally over the line.

"Hey Mac," Flack licked his lips nervously. "Other than Danny, who did you call to the scene?"

Mac frowned at the strange question. "I called Lindsay. Did you see either of them on the way out?"

"Uh…no Mac, but we have a problem. I just found pagers in a trash bin, along with bags," Flack dug carefully through the rest of the trash, "I've got wallets and coats too and I'm willing to bet it belongs to the two of them."

"Why do you say that?" Mac was starting to worry too. Flack wouldn't say something like this unless he was sure.

"Both pagers have messages calling them to a shootout in the subway, coming from you. Plus, I'm pretty sure I recognize Danny's bag when I see it. Mac, they couldn't be…" Flack couldn't finish the sentence, his worst fears getting to him.

Mac was silent, "I'll call Stella and Hawkes in. Stay with the vic Flack, we'll need everything he can give us. And put some uniforms to search the area…just in case."

Hawkes was still groggy with sleep when his phone rang. He ignored it. He wasn't on call that night so it couldn't be anything urgent. He stuffed his head among his pillows, trying to muffle out that goddamned ringing. But the caller was persistent, and that annoying sound just droned on and on, drilling into his head like a jackhammer. Finally, he decided to answer the phone and it'd better be good because this was seriously disrupting his slumber.

"Hawkes, it's Mac." Mac's voice said.

"Mac?" This was pretty much the last person he was expecting to call him when he wasn't on call. Mac didn't make mistakes like this…did he? "Mac, did you get your timings mixed up? I'm not on call tonight."

"I didn't make a mistake Hawkes but I'm short-handed right now. Danny and Lindsay have gone missing and Flack thinks it might have something to do with this case I have down in the subway." Mac told him.

Hawkes took a moment to process the message through his sleep-deprived brain. He was wide awake very suddenly, "I'll be right there." He said into the phone and hung up.

Stella was much more surly and snappish than Hawkes was when Mac woke her up. Mac could almost see her scowling into the phone and knew he had to cut her off before she could yell at him, which would almost certainly be followed by her hanging up on him.

"I know you're not on call Stella," Mac said quickly, "And I know it's been one hell of a week and I agree; we all need to sleep some time. But the thing is, my two detectives who _are_ on call have gone missing and it's highly likely that the perps of my case got to them. We don't know if they've been abducted or if they're dead but I need you and Hawkes down here ASAP."

That was more than enough to erase Stella's bad mood and she hung up after assuring Mac she would be there. It didn't take long for both detectives to arrive and get to work. Hawkes was still yawning widely but his eyes were definitely alert. Stella's hair was a mess and showed signs of having been haphazardly brushed through. Mac was waiting for them at the entrance of the subway when they finally came.

"Thanks for coming guys," Mac said sincerely.

"Are you kidding?" Stella shook her head, "I couldn't drive here fast enough. So what do we have?"

"We have their belongings in the bin, some surveillance tapes to run and the scene itself where the shooting actually happened. Flack's chasing after the vic, who could also possibly be a witness too. We also have a couple of uniforms checking out the area." Mac said. "I'll take the scene. Stella, you can handle their things and Hawkes, you run the tapes."

"You got it boss." Stella held up her kit and started walking to where Mac pointed while Hawkes went in search of the surveillance room.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I have never actually been anywhere near New York in my life so I can't say for sure what's over there… So my descriptions of places might be a little vague…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Stella looked carefully through the items in the rubbish bin. Luckily, it was mostly empty except for the bags and other stuff. Stella easily recognized the purse and satchel as those belonging to Lindsay and Danny and checking the wallets only confirmed their worst fears. These things belonged to the two detectives all right.

She bagged and tagged them all, taking a mental inventory of all the things inside. Everything seemed to be in place inside the bags, looking as if they had just been pulled off their shoulders and tossed into the trash. Their badges also sat at the bottom of the bin, probably the first things the perps had taken off them. Hopefully, she could get some prints off these things.

This didn't feel very right, going through her friends' things without their permission. Stella knew she should be professional about this, that she should treat this case like any other but she couldn't get it out of her mind that it was two of her friends on the line here. Plus, she knew them both and searching through their belongings felt like a serious invasion of their privacy.

Something was missing, and as Stella went through her inventory once more, she realized that Danny's gun was nowhere to be found. Lindsay didn't carry a gun but if Danny's gun wasn't here, it was safe to say that the perps had it. That was bad. They'd have to put in a report soon before some nut job used his gun for something that would frame Danny. The blonde CSI had enough going on in his life, especially after the subway shooting. The IAB was still steaming a little about letting Danny off.

There was nothing here to suggest that Lindsay or Danny had anything but the clothes on their backs. Every single piece of identification they could possibly have had been dumped into the trash. Even their coats had been rumpled and thrown inside. Stella had seen too many John and Jane Does whose cases were never solved. She didn't dare to think it but she hoped that neither of them would be added to that list.

Hopefully, the perps were keeping them together. At least then, they'd have each other. But otherwise, things didn't bode well for the two missing detectives. Even if they managed to get free of their captors, they had no way of contacting their friends or anyone for help.

Well, the good point was that with this much stuff that the perps had to handle, there was a great chance that prints had been left behind at some point. She'd just have to process them all for trace and prints.

* * *

Detective Don Flack waited anxiously in the hospital for the vic to wake up, his mind still a bit preoccupied with the question that Mac had asked him earlier over the phone.

"_When was the last time you saw either of them Flack?"_

The last time he saw Lindsay, she was still trying to finish up some things in the office but Flack had gone out with Danny and Hawkes for drinks. Hell, he had even walked Danny to the subway entrance before he had to go back to the precinct. He hadn't ordered any alcohol for himself but Hawkes and Danny had. Most importantly, Flack was very aware of the fact that he was very likely the last person to have seen his best friend before he had disappeared.

Irrational thoughts rose in his head. He hated having to wait. It gave him too much time to think of all kinds of possibilities. He shouldn't have let his friend go home alone but how was he to know that something was going to happen? The two CSIs going MIA at the same time was the last thing on anyone's mind.

Right now, their only reliable witness was this guy inside, still sleeping from the anesthesia while the doctors had extracted the bullet. The bullet was on its way to Ballistics and Flack was going to make sure he got every piece of information possible out of this guy.

The most ridiculous thought came into his head for a moment and he smiled at the hilarity of it. Suppose Messer and Monroe had decided to go somewhere and make up? Now that would be an interesting idea, especially since the whole lab was always guessing about their relationship but if so, the two were a bit too responsible to dump everything they had into the trash and go into hiding. It wasn't a likely possibility at all but it was a very nice alternative to whatever else the two detectives could've gotten themselves into.

"Detective?" A nurse asked quietly from the doorway. "The patient is awake but he's still a little weak. Please try not to tire him out."

* * *

Flack grunted noncommittally, not trusting himself with such a promise. In his present state of mind, he felt like he could throw the vic against the wall if he thought it would shake something out of the man. He simply got up from his seat and entered the room. The conductor was a young man with light blue eyes and short blond hair. He smiled weakly as Flack came in.

"Nelson Evans?" Flack began and he nodded in recognition. "My name is Detective Don Flack and I need to ask you some questions about what happened on your train last night."

Nelson nodded and sat up, looking remarkably well for a man who had just been shot at. "It was pretty empty all night. I'm pretty sure there were only two people on the train all night. It was real quiet too so I took out my iPod to pass the time. Wasn't really expecting anything, you know? A few stations before I stopped the train, a bunch of serious drunks came on board. They were stoned real bad, about four or five of them in all but I didn't take much notice really. That time of night, if it wasn't a few late-night workaholics who sleep on the train, it's a couple of drunk lunatics causing a riot."

"So you didn't see what they looked like?" Flack was busy scribbling away in his notebook. Nelson was pretty talkative too.

"Not right at first," Nelson shook his head, "It's like I said, it's usually pretty quiet and predictable at that time. My only problems are when the drunks are so out of it that they start causing trouble. I think they were all around their late twenties, maybe early thirties. They were all white, with dark hair if it's any help."

Flack noted it all down, "Nothing stood out? No tattoos or anything?"

"No, not really. They looked like your regular thugs, but I suppose they could be builders too. You know, the really beefy type. I wasn't really looking when they came on the train and I only got a couple of glimpses before I got shot. After that, I was a bit preoccupied with getting back to the cabin and calling for help."

"So what happened next after those rowdies boarded the train?"

"I heard a gunshot." He answered and then frowned, "I wouldn't swear to this but I think there was a first gunshot, maybe a minute or two before the other one. I thought it was one of the drums on my iPod or something so I ignored it at first. The other one was the one that really caught my attention so I brought the train to a stop. I went back there to check on what was going on and those drunks turned out to be not so drunk after all. Two of them were forcing a door open and another two were carrying this guy out. The last one had a gun and was holding on to this pretty girl. I asked what was going on and this," He gestured at his leg, "This was my answer. I tried to go back to the cabin but I must've blacked out because the next thing I knew, paramedics were rushing around me making a hell lot of noise."

"Thank you Mr. Evans," Flack said, snapping his book shut.

Nelson studied him, "The man they were carrying out, you know him?" He asked shrewdly.

Flack stared, "How did you know?"

"He stopped my train before. Flashed his shiny little badge when he spotted a dead guy on the tracks and smashed into my emergency brakes."

Flack's mouth twitched, remembering the subway surfer case. He still teased Danny about that, reminding the man not to find any more dead bodies on his way home. "You have some luck Mr. Evans, to run into this guy and a case twice." Flack commented. He scribbled down his number on a spare piece of paper. "If there's anything else you can remember, just give me a call, all right?"

Nelson took it and nodded. Flack stepped outside, staring at his notes. So far, all he knew was that five guys, at least, had attacked Danny and Lindsay. Not very good odds, especially if one of them had a gun. But why hadn't Danny pulled his? Danny would've tried to take them down, and Lindsay was no easy mark either. Flack had heard about how she collared suspects trying to get away. He was distracted by the ringing of his cell and he answered it with a short, "Flack,"

"Detective, this is Officer Thomas Philips." The uniformed officer reported, "We've searched the surrounding area of the station entrance within a ten-block radius. Nobody fitting the description of Detective Messer or Detective Monroe."

Flack breathed a sigh of relief. They weren't dead, at least their bodies hadn't been found yet. Now he just had to get away from that pessimistic thinking. "Thank you Officer," He said sincerely. "I'll relay the message."

* * *

Hawkes was seated in the A/V lab, reviewing the tapes he had managed to get from the surveillance room. He frowned at the images, which were all slightly blurry. There weren't any cameras in the train itself but there was a couple at each station. Hawkes had gone down to each station from where Flack had dropped Danny off to where the train had been stopped. He had to know exactly what happened.

The former ME rubbed at his temples where he had a pounding headache. He wouldn't have drunk so much last night if he had known he would be called in to his friends' disappearance. This massive hangover was threatening his ability to think straight.

Hawkes watched Danny wait around for the train to arrive. The man was restless but clearly exhausted. And Hawkes couldn't blame him. If it wasn't for that extra-strong coffee he had on the table beside him, Hawkes was sure he would be dropping off as well. It was a harrowing case they had last worked and that round of drinks only made things worse. Hawkes really wanted to sleep off this huge headache.

Lindsay was already in the train when Danny boarded, dozing from what Hawkes could see. Danny got into the compartment next to hers and neither of them showed signs that they knew the other was on board. Danny sat back in his seat, clearly trying to relax and get some sleep while Lindsay weaved in and out of it, as most commuters did in case they missed their stops.

The same scene was repeated in the next couple of stations. Finally, two stops away from the last one, a group of guys were loitering around waiting for the train. A total of five in all, they were drinking and simply waiting. When the train finally arrived, they'd gotten on. A strange thing happened then. The first few were about to cross into an empty car, on the other side of Danny's and two away from Lindsay when one of them pulled the others back, pointing in Danny's direction.

They all turned and entered Danny's compartment then, looking very rowdy and stoned as they walked in. They collapsed on seats opposite Danny but neither CSI took much notice.

_Who'd be suspicious of a couple of late-night party people, all stone drunk?_ Hawkes realized. _They must've planned something at that point._

There was only one more station left before the train was stopped and in that one, more interesting things happened. Just as the train pulled into the station, one of the men stood up, studying Danny and slowly, the rest of them stood up too. Danny seemed to sense something was amiss and reached for his gun but the other guy got to his first. Hawkes watched wide-eyed as the man had Danny at gun point.

The train jerked as it started to pull out of the station and all the men who were standing stumbled. Danny was the only one still seated and he took advantage of that to duck away from the gun and knock it away but apparently, a shot was fired at the window behind. Hawkes had to blow it up to see it clearly. The compartments were fast disappearing back into the tunnel. Danny struggled with the shooter, who had lost his gun somewhere. The last thing Hawkes could glimpse from Lindsay's car was that she had been awakened by the shot and was getting up. Hawkes could only guess what happened next since the train never made it to the last one.

At the last station was an image of the men hauling the unconscious detectives up onto the platform. They stopped to search them and relieve them of just about everything they had. Pockets were turned out and searched, especially Danny's and his gun was taken away. Hawkes couldn't help noticing that the men were a little more preoccupied with groping Lindsay than actually searching her. Okay, Stella didn't need to see this bit if at all possible. The Greek woman would blow up seeing her friend being taken advantage of. Hawkes wasn't too happy himself but this stupid headache was actually proving useful, helping him to hold on to some bit of rationality.

Everything was dumped in the garbage bin and Hawkes sat back in his chair, sipping at his coffee while the men carried the two detectives out. So that was what had happened. By all appearances, Danny had been the main target for those guys and Lindsay had gotten herself involved. Five on two were not very good odds, especially when one of them had probably been taken hostage first. The problem now was, as Hawkes watched them drag the two detectives out of the station, where were they being taken to?

* * *

Mac flashed his torchlight around the compartments. With a little help from Hawkes, he had managed to identify which were the compartments that everything had happened. He now stood in the one where Lindsay had been. He doubted there was anything here that would show beyond the fact that Lindsay had been in this particular compartment.

The next one was the car where Danny had been in and supposedly, all the action had happened. Mac at first had thought that the two CSIs had decided to go home together though, after that fight they had in the lab, Mac was a bit skeptical about it. As far as he knew, Danny had left for home by himself after those drinks and Lindsay was confirmed by several lab techs to have stayed behind dealing with paperwork. She also left alone. After hearing Hawkes' explanation, everything became much clearer. It was a coincidence that they were on the same train.

Mac studied the window with the bullet hole. Was there any chance of recovering this bullet? Mac wasn't so sure. Finding bullets in the wall of a subway tunnel might be a bit of a longshot. Beside, they already had a bullet from the vic's leg. There were a couple of blood spatters on the floor. Gravitational drops, someone had been beaten probably and bleeding from his nose or lip. The blood then dripped onto the ground. More than likely, this was Danny's blood.

It was confirmed by a pair of glasses that had been scattered underneath the seat. Mac recognized it easily. It was Danny's and it was cracked, blood seeping into the lenses. In addition to the blood was a faint print. Mac bagged it. This would be very important. Hopefully, the blood wasn't Danny's. Glass in a person's eye was never a good thing, plus it could probably belong to the guy who smashed his glasses. And if DNA showed up nothing, there was still a print to run.

There was a bullet lodged in the ceiling and as Mac studied the angle and trajectory, he could tell that the bullet could very possibly be aimed at someone who had just entered the compartment, someone like Lindsay. He could see it in his mind's eye. Lindsay waking up at the sound of a gunshot and going into the neighboring car to see what was wrong, only to find Danny being attacked by a couple of men. She would've rushed in at that point, stopping a few feet from Danny's attackers and right in the path of the bullet. So someone had recovered the dropped gun and now used it on Lindsay, so that was probably the second shot the conductor had heard. So, in addition to the one in the conductor's leg, a total of three shots were fired.

Mac retrieved the bullet, noticing that it had taken a few strands of wispy brown hair with it. Lindsay must've evaded the gunshot somehow, but she still had been taken down by the thugs. Mac could only guess why she had been brought along. More than likely, it was to control Danny. By threatening him with her life, they could make sure he followed their directions.

Finally, at the far end of this compartment was a smear of blood on the floor and some on the metal bars. Mac was positive it wasn't Danny's, Lindsay's or the conductor's. The conductor's blood trail was obvious. He was shot from this particular car but the bullet had traveled into the next empty one, lodging itself in the conductor's leg. Mac was willing to bet that neither Danny nor Lindsay was taken to this end bleeding. Danny must've taken at least one of those guys down, maybe broke his nose or busted his lip. The man would then have wiped the blood and smeared it somewhere convenient. Good, more DNA to run. With a little luck, they might just close this case quickly and find their friends after all.

I apologize if this particular chapter is a little messed up and vague. Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers last time! Danny and Lindsay appear in the next chapter so watch out for it!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I have never actually been anywhere near New York in my life so I can't say for sure what's over there… So my descriptions of places might be a little vague…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Her head ached terribly and she was lying somewhere cold, hard and reeking of rusty metal. She couldn't see anything, darkness surrounded her. For a vague, terrifying moment, she thought she'd gone blind and cold fear welled up in the pits of her stomach. _Relax Lindsay,_ she tried to tell herself, _think back. What happened?_

The memories hit her all at once. A gunshot, followed by sounds of punches being thrown, waking her from her sleep. The shocking sight of Danny on his knees, held there by two men while he was pounded by a third. A fourth man lying on the other end of the carriage, nose bleeding…

"_Danny?" She couldn't quite believe her eyes. What was he doing here? Had he been there all this time? By his expression, neither could he. _Oh God Danny, what have you gotten yourself into this time?

"_Montana?" He managed to croak out._

_She moved forward immediately with all the authority she could muster. "What do you think you're doing? Let him go!" She ordered the man who was beating him._

_The man merely smirked in a way that only made her more infuriated. "You his girlfriend?" He asked, looking at her petite frame._

"_Leave her alone." Danny spat out fiercely. "She's got nothing to do with this!"_

"_I'm his colleague." Lindsay answered at the same time. "And all of you have no idea how much trouble you're going to be in."_

"_Damn it Montana," Danny yelled at her, "Just leave us alone alright? I can handle this."_

_Neither his attacker nor Lindsay took any notice. They were having a stare down. Despite her size, Lindsay was glaring at the man so fiercely that it made one think of the 'If-looks-could-kill' cliché. She had to find some way to help Danny get away from them, but to get to the conductor, she had to go through these rabble. She didn't carry a gun though so she could only try and intimidate them until she came up with a better idea._

"_A pretty girl like you is a detective?" The man said in a disbelieving voice. Lindsay didn't like the way he was looking at her at all._

"_You know he's a detective and you still have your hands on him?" Lindsay stood her ground, trying to scare them. "You could all be charged with assaulting an officer."_

_His smug look only grew wider. "The thing is, sweet, we don't plan on getting caught. Detective Messer is coming with us on a road trip."_

"_What makes you think he wants to go with the likes of you?"_

"_Well, we _were_ going to have him out cold and dragged along behind us," He said matter-of-factly and Lindsay was starting to get a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "But havin' his girlfriend along as a hostage will do just as well." She froze when she heard this. She knew all too well what he meant and she knew she had to get out of there before they got her too. At the same time, she didn't want to leave Danny to handle these thugs by themselves._

_In the midst of her indecision, she heard Danny yell out suddenly, "Montana! Duck!"_

_It took only a split second to process his meaning and she dropped to the floor. At the exact same time, she heard a gun fire and a fraction of a second later, she felt a bullet whiz past the top of her hair, embedding itself in the roof of the train. There was a fifth man, underneath the seats with a gun in his hands. Rushing to get up, Lindsay moved to grab him, identifying him as the biggest threat._

"_You idiot!" The man she had been talking to screamed behind her. Lindsay and the gunman struggled for the weapon. A heavy blow struck against the back of her head. The lights became unnaturally bright and then it was nothing but blackness…_

That accounted for her headache. Someone, that jerk she had been talking to probably, had hit her on the back of her head. She'd been out cold in an instant. There was some kind of heavy fabric covering her eyes too, so she wasn't really blind as her panic had first told her. She struggled to sit up on the rumbling metal floor and her head bumped against a plastic sheet of some kind. Her hands were bound behind her and additionally tied to her waist, as well as to some heavy weights behind her.

"Danny?" She called carefully. "Are you here?"

"That you Montana?" His familiar voice said in a raspy tone. She felt a twinge of annoyance at the nickname but let it slide. This was definitely not the time to be arguing over stupid nicknames.

"Yeah, it's me." She said, feeling relief flood her. At least he seemed to be all right. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Yeah, I have x-ray vision and can see right through this blindfold," He answered sarcastically. "I don't know. I know we aren't in the city anymore. Can't hear traffic or any of the regular city sounds."

Lindsay realized he was right and strained her remaining senses to try and get some bearing of where she was. Danny was right. There was none of the city sounds or smells that was classic of the Big Apple. Instead, there was the fluttering of some kind of canvas as it snapped under strong winds. She could also smell exhaust but the air was noticeably cleaner than the city, reminding her of the country scents of her home state. The deep rumbling and vibrating rusty floor told of the movement in a vehicle. Lindsay guessed they were in the back of a pick-up, covered by a tarp sheet probably and told Danny so.

"They probably don't want to let idle drivers see two people bound and gagged behind here." Danny said, "I can't imagine why." His tone was light and joking.

"Wherever we're going, it's probably a long way from New York." Lindsay sniffed hard, "I can smell clean air…cleaner than the city anyway." She added as the engine of the pick-up coughed startlingly.

Danny groaned. Just when he thought things were looking up, that the hectic week was over and maybe he could finally get some rest, _this_ had to happen. He couldn't believe his luck. And to get Lindsay involved in all of this when it shouldn't have had anything to do with her… Danny didn't want to be responsible if anything happened to her. It'd been a complete shock when he heard her call his name. What had she been doing there in the first place? Shouldn't she be safely at home? They'd wrapped up the case hours before. She should be asleep at home, far away from them, far away from danger. He still remembered the cold fear that had trickled down his back when he stared down into the gun barrel.

_Danny knocked the gun out of the man's hands and it clattered under one of the seats. He launched a punch at one of them, breaking his nose and sending him to the other end of the car. He dimly registered that another of the men was trying to crawl under the seats, attempting to retrieve the gun. He rushed for it too but was knocked to his knees by heavy blows in the back._

_A shattering blow to his face busted his lip and smashed his glasses. More blows continued to rain down on him. Danny struggled to fight but was held down firmly by two of them. And then, a voice he had last heard yelling at him now spoke in incredulity. "Danny?"_

_Danny couldn't believe it. What was she doing here? She shouldn't even _be_ here. She should be at home, fast asleep. "Montana?" He whispered, not quite believing his eyes. Maybe it was the cracked glasses…maybe he was just seeing things._

_She walked into their carriage, walking in that businesslike way that most perps knew they were in trouble. "What do you think you're doing? Let him go!" She ordered his tormentor. Danny groaned silently. No mistake, this was Lindsay. Not many girls in New York had that daring and boldness._

"_You his girlfriend?" He heard the man ask. Danny couldn't quite crack his neck high enough to see his face but he was sure he was leering at her._

"_Leave her alone." Danny spat out fiercely, feeling irrational anger flood his insides. "She's got nothing to do with this!" He had to get her out of here. She couldn't be here._

"_I'm his colleague." Lindsay answered at the same time as he and he cursed her big mouth. There went all possibility of letting them think she was just a nosy acquaintance. "And all of you have no idea how much trouble you're going to be in." _You think they care Montana? Threats don't do no good against thugs like them.

"_Damn it Montana," Danny yelled at her, "Just leave us alone alright? I can handle this."_ Please, just leave us alone.

_No one took notice of him as the big man stared at Lindsay. It might actually be an amusing sight, seeing Lindsay glare with such deadly vehemence at a man so much bigger than her._

"_A pretty girl like you is a detective?" The man said in a disbelieving voice. Danny didn't like his tone._

"_You know he's a detective and you still have your hands on him?" Lindsay stood her ground bravely. Danny wouldn't have expected anything less from her but this very quality was going to get her into a lot of trouble._

"_The thing is, sweet, we don't plan on getting caught. Detective Messer is coming with us on a road trip." Great, these guys were planning on abducting him. Danny couldn't even begin to guess why. There were just so many reasons._

"_What makes you think he wants to go with the likes of you?" _Oh no, don't challenge them like that… You're just asking for it…_ Danny winced at her question._

"_Well, we _were_ going to have him out cold and dragged along behind us." His attacker said in a casual voice, "But havin' his girlfriend along as a hostage will do just as well." He froze when he heard this. His worst fears were coming true. They were going to take her too. _Run Montana! _He yelled in the silence of his mind. She had to get out of here now but she seemed to be frozen in place._

_They had forgotten about that last thug that had crawled under the seats, looking for the gun. Lindsay didn't seem to have noticed him but Danny could now clearly see him aim the weapon in Lindsay's direction. His chest tightened in fear as he saw the finger reached towards the trigger. "Montana! Duck!" He roared, praying she would be fine._

_She paused in puzzlement for what seemed like an eternity but then she dropped to the floor just as the gun fired. It didn't seem to have hit her as the bullet lodged itself into the roof of the compartment. Danny breathed a brief sigh of relief but he could swear his heart nearly stopped when she tried to tackle the shooter._

"_You idiot!" Danny's attacker screamed and he was tempted to yell the same thing at Lindsay. She should've run while she still had the chance. His attacker stood over the struggling duo and raised his hand high, striking her squarely in the back of her head._

"_Lindsay!" Danny struggled harder than ever against his two captors, his teeth and fists clenched tightly together. "I swear to God, if you've killed her…"_

"_Relax," His attacker said, checking her pulse. "She's still alive. I wouldn't want our bargaining chip to die so early."_

_Danny glared at him even more murderously than Lindsay had, struggling so hard that his captors were having trouble keeping him under control. His glasses were coming off the bridge of his nose, clattering to the floor. The train was starting to slow noticeably. He froze when the shooter clicked the gun and pointed it at the back of Lindsay's skull._

_His attacker smirked, "Now, we're going to be nice and come along quietly, right? Otherwise, your girlfriend here will be the next body your pals at work will have to…what's the word…process." Rage seethed within Danny, threatening to explode. He trembled with anger but he didn't dare to move. Lindsay's life was balanced on this man's trigger finger. The train stopped and the door to the conductor's cabin opened in the distance. It was the last sound Danny heard before he felt a violent blow to the back of his head and then, Danny Messer knew no more._

By the time Danny had awakened, he was suffering the combined after-effects of a hangover and the bruise that was sure to be forming on the back of his skull. He'd struggled against his bonds for a long time before he resigned himself to the fact that he was securely tied up. He had thought he was alone until Lindsay finally woke up. He was filled with mixed feelings on hearing her voice, mainly dread and relief. He was relieved that she was there, and perfectly fine; that they hadn't done anything to her yet. However, he knew that as long as she was there, they could use her as a threat against him. Danny couldn't trust himself to refuse anything if it meant her life would be on the line.

"Why couldn't you have just stayed out of things?" Danny muttered, more than a little unhappy with the situation. She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. If she wasn't here, he could plan a reckless escape instead of having to think about someone else.

Lindsay could feel herself stiffen with anger. This was what she got for trying to help him? It was true that she probably had made things worse but couldn't he at least be glad he didn't have to go through all this alone? "And leave you at the hands of those gangsters? I don't think so. Unlike you Messer, I do have a heart." Her reply was harsh and she knew it but it was a little hard not to be angry at the moment.

"It was none of your business." Danny threw back, even though he knew she couldn't have done anything else, that he would have done the exact same thing, that he would've been disappointed if she had just left him there. However, just like her, he was feeling helpless and there was no one else to take it out on.

"It is every bit my business when someone, much less a friend of mine, gets shot at and beaten up by a bunch of drunken thugs." Lindsay retorted, feeling just a little hurt that he could actually think she would've left him behind.

Danny fell silent at that. "They weren't drunk." He stated sullenly after a few moments.

"Excuse me?"

"I said they weren't drunk." Danny repeated, sitting up straighter. His head pushed against the tarp above them. "They had been drinking, but I don't think they were really drunk. It was planned a little too well for that."

Lindsay knew he was right. They knew he was a detective and this abduction had obviously been part of the plan. But how had they known Danny would be on that train at that particular time? "What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"You make it sound like it was my fault." Danny's tone had a light, almost joking lilt to it.

"Well you _were_ their target." Lindsay pointed out. "Which guy have you ticked off so bad that he'd want you kidnapped?"

"How'd I know?" Danny said defensively, "In case you haven't noticed Montana, I'm a detective too and we make all kinds of enemies every day. For all I know, they're after me 'cos I chucked one of their buddies in jail."

"Or maybe you just decided to give someone a stupid nickname." Lindsay's voice was heavy with sarcasm and she was fast becoming angry with his flippant attitude. "My name is Lindsay Monroe, not Montana. And has it ever occurred to you that once in a while, you could do more than offend people? We make enough enemies every day without you going out of your way to make more."

That was it. "And why can't you just lighten up once in a while?" Danny asked, getting angry as well. "Is it so wrong for a person to crack a joke in the face of a bad situation?"

He heard Lindsay's sharp intake of breath. "I didn't…" She had been temperamental but she hadn't really meant what she had said, hadn't thought how he would take it.

"No, that's just fine." Danny was turning sarcastic as well. "I know. I'm just a joker who goes around offending people all the time. I don't take anything seriously. I get it."

"No Danny, that's not what I…" She was cut off once more by him.

"Look, you know what, you're right. You're right and you win, you happy now?" There was the unmistakable sound of Danny trying to move around, although he was tied down by weights. He didn't want to talk anymore, not when he was in a mood like this. Lindsay pursed her lips, knowing anything she said right then would not be heard. She could only wait until he finished sulking. Lindsay only hoped that he finished soon. They needed to work together if they were to get out of this.

And that's it for this chapter… there will be more of them in the next one. I just wanted to get a bit of their POV in what happened. I hope they don't seem too OOC… Thanks to everyone for reviewing again!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I have never actually been anywhere near New York in my life so I can't say for sure what's over there… So my descriptions of places might be a little vague…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The ride in the back of the truck was a bumpy one. Lindsay could hear Danny curse every time they hit a particularly rough spot in the road. She would've smiled if she could but the journey was giving her too many bruises. Otherwise, the two of them were perfectly silent. Danny appeared to still be angry at her and Lindsay was waiting for him to cool down. Except for his muttered curse-words, not a sound was made by either of them.

Lindsay finally decided that Danny Messer already had enough time to sulk, not to mention she was still feeling terrible. When they got to their destination at last, they might not get the chance to talk anymore and Lindsay still owed Danny an apology. Two apologies in fact, one for their argument in the lab and one for the small fight a little while ago. This was getting ridiculous. They needed to settle this while they still could. They'd both seen enough cases where their victims never got to say what was important to those who mattered.

"I'm sorry." Lindsay said.

There was a short silence, and then Danny muttered. "Damn right." He didn't sound as angry as his words though. She heard him move slightly, as if coming closer again.

"I'm sorry I'm always fighting with you." Lindsay continued talking, "Back in the lab and just a while ago… I know why you did it but I shouldn't have gotten angry like that. It's just that…I don't know…I guess the case got to me. I should've apologized back at the lab but I guess I was too proud to admit I was wrong…" Her voice was getting uncharacteristically small and she didn't like it.

"Hey, hey, we all make mistakes." Danny was alarmed with the despair she was showing. Lindsay was usually as bright and perky as they come. "Look, I'm sorry too. I should've tried to stay serious. I know I goof off a lot. You were right to yell at me. I mean, someone's gotta keep me in line when I go too far."

She sniffed a little, "So how are we going to get out of this?" Somehow, Danny could tell she was trying to put on a front.

"Don't worry Montana, Mac will figure it all out. And they'll all come down here to get us." Danny assured her confidently. "In the meantime, gimme a smile and we'll think of something together."

"I _am_ smiling."

"No, you're lying." Her words were cheerful but forced, and that didn't link with the mental image of a genuine smile. "I got x-ray vision remember? I can see you but I don't see a smile." The quip came out of his mouth before he could stop it. He grimaced, wondering if she'd start reprimanding him again.

Surprisingly, she chuckled instead. "Fine, I'm smiling now. You happy? Now use your super-strength and bust us out of here." Maybe Danny was onto something here. Having something to laugh at really relieved the stress and tension that had been hanging in the air.

Danny could feel his mouth pulling into an irrepressible grin. _Now see, that wasn't so hard to do, was it?_ He thought triumphantly. "I'm sorry ma'am," He put on his best superhero voice, "You must've confused me with Superman. I don't have super-strength."

"Oh too bad," Lindsay mocked. She was going to say something but the truck stopped abruptly, sending the two of them tumbling and giving them more bruises on top of the ones they already had.

"We've gotta complain to our chauffeur 'bout this." Danny said lightly after muttering a few more choice oaths. If she wasn't black and blue all over again, Lindsay would've laughed. "That was some pretty nasty driving."

"Rise and shine Detectives," A rough voice greeted them mockingly. "We have a long walk to cover before we reach home sweet home."

Someone climbed into the truck with them, loosening the binds to the weights. Lindsay felt a pair of arms around her, carrying her off the truck. She struggled hard. "Where're you taking us?" Lindsay demanded once her feet touched solid ground again.

"Nuh uh uh," She got the distinct feeling someone was wagging his finger in her face. "It wouldn't be much of a surprise now if I told you, now would it Detective?" A pair of hands shoved at her back. "Now start moving!"

Lindsay stumbled into the ground and spat out a mouthful of dirt and grass. "Hey, leave her alone!" Danny yelled, somewhere behind her. Someone pulled her to her feet but Lindsay felt frozen when she felt the cold metal barrel of a gun poke into her side. Danny heard the safety of the gun clicking and he stopped, listening desperately for the next sound.

"Do you know what's being pointed at your friend right now Detective?" The voice said tauntingly, next to Lindsay's ear. "It's a gun. _Your_ gun in fact. How'd you like that? I shoot her now and all your friends will think that _you_ shot her."

"You bastard!" Danny struggled against the person who was holding him. If he had been free and now blinded, he would've leaped for the bastard's throat but Lindsay's life was at stake here. He didn't dare do anything rash. "Leave her alone. She has nothing to do with this."

"I knew it was a good idea to bring her along." The person said smugly to apparently, the person holding on to Danny. He leaned down next to her ear, so close that Lindsay could feel the hot breath on her cheek, even smell the cigarette smoke that tainted his breath. "I don't think the pretty lady wants to leave. You won't leave your friend alone now would you Miss?"

Lindsay swallowed hard but she kept her head held high. "I'm not going anywhere without Danny."

Despite the danger, that simple statement made Danny feel better. He still wished she was far, far away right now but knowing she wouldn't leave him comforted him.

"Now ain't that sweet?" The voice mocked and the tone changed abruptly. "Now move!" They were both shoved by their shoulders once again and they were forced to move forwards. Their first few steps were faltering at first and they stumbled many times on the uneven ground, only to be hauled once again to their feet. They had been bruised during their ride in the truck but now they were getting more bruises on top of bruises, with cuts and scrapes to match.

There was no telling where they were except that they were in a forest of some kind. There was that cool, leafy scent typical of a forested area and the ground that they came to know very well only confirmed that. It was covered with leaves and dirt and all sorts of little stones that impeded their tentative footsteps and got into their mouths when they fell. Bugs and birds of all kinds seemed to trying to make some kind of nature choir but it just sounded like a load of noise to Danny. It was nothing like the city sounds he was used to. The strange cricket sounds and bird songs filled the air like a jarring racket.

To Lindsay however, the sounds were familiar and welcoming. She quickly got used to walking blind and being led around. There was no getting used to the cold gun pointed at her back however. The touch of the cold steel sent shivers up her spine and goosebumps down her arms.

They hiked for what felt like days and Danny's shoulders soon ached with the continuous shoving he received whenever he tried to stop and take a breather. Lindsay seemed to be in better shape. By the sounds of her breathing, she wasn't as exhausted as he was. _Country girls must hike a lot._ He thought randomly.

Finally, they stopped. Danny stood still for what seemed like a long time to him, straining to hear something…anything… "You guys aren't lost, are you?" He couldn't help the cocky grin that was starting to spread across his face but he supposed he deserved the punch that came a few seconds later.

"No talking." A new voice, much more cold and gravelly than the first, ordered.

Danny spat the blood out of his mouth. Oh, if only he wasn't tied up, he'd take this guy down. To hell if the man might be seven feet tall and whatnot, at least he'd die trying.

The clink of keys rattled and then there was the distinct sound of a door being unlocked. The two CSIs were shoved into a musty, wood-smelling room, landing against hard wooden floors and walls. Danny grunted slightly when he felt Lindsay's body tumble against his chest. "Hey Montana, you all right?" He whispered. Whoever their captors were, they seemed to be talking outside.

"I'm battered and bruised and I'm in need of a nice hot bath." Lindsay struggled to sit up. "But I'll live. How did you make out?"

"I've seen better days, I can tell you that." Danny said bravely as Lindsay's squirming nudged against several of his bruises at once. He grunted and hissed at the pain.

"Sorry." Lindsay apologized softly.

"It's all right. I should be the one apologizing. I got you into this mess."

"Don't start apologizing to me Messer." She told him sternly, "I wouldn't be much of a friend if I'd left you in the lurch against those thugs."

Danny was silent and finally, he smiled though she couldn't see it. "Thanks. That means a lot. It's too bad though," He added quietly. "There isn't much we can do right now except wait for Mac and the others to come for us. Makes a man feel useless, you know?"

"Men and their need to feel macho," Lindsay teased lightly. "I know what you mean though. You were right the first time. We still might find a way to get out of this yet. And they won't abandon us either. If anyone can find us, they can." There was a hopeful edge to her voice, as if she was trying to convince herself of that fact too.

Heavy footfalls announced the return of their captors, apparently having finished with whatever they had been talking about outside. "Well Detectives," The first voice drawled mockingly, "Have you had time to get reacquainted? And how do you like your new quarters so far?"

"I dunno. Maybe if I could actually _see_, I could give you a better opinion." Danny said sarcastically. "I'll say one thing though. I don't think much of your room service."

A hand lashed out and pulled at his hair, yanking him upwards. "You've got a smart mouth Detective." The voice whispered maliciously in a tone as cold as ice, "I'd watch it if I was you. And as for the room service, I'd suggest you get used to it." He was thrown backwards again, colliding hard against the wooden wall. Danny grunted at the impact, gritting his teeth together.

Lindsay felt the blindfold being removed from her head and blinked at the sudden brightness, trying to focus her eyes together. Danny was lying next to her, breathing hard as a huge man tore the heavy cloth off his head. He blinked blearily and squinted hard at the two men towering over them. Lindsay took note of her surroundings instead. They were in a little wooden shack, barren except for two chairs and a small table. From the only window, she could see the dense forest outside.

Danny was glaring hard at the two men. The loss of his glasses was of no particular handicap. Things were only slightly blurry but he could still make out most of the features on the men. The first thing he noted was that neither of them had been in the group that had attacked him and Lindsay on the train.

"Where're your friends who jumped us?" Danny asked.

"No idea," The smaller man said with an indifferent shrug. He was still pretty big, bigger than Danny at any rate, and wore a checkered shirt. _I'll call you Checkers, _Danny thought. _And your friend would be Beefcake._ He glanced appraisingly at the other man who was a huge and beefy person, with wide shoulders and gigantic hands. Danny thought he could take the smaller guy but this big one was not one to be tangled with. "We simply hired them to bring you to us." He was quite obviously the one that had been taunting them all this time, and probably the mastermind behind it all. The other guy, despite being the bigger and more powerful one, had a subservient look that was classic of those who were the brawn behind others' brains.

"What are you going to do with us?" Lindsay demanded, a hint of fear in her voice.

"Not you Miss," Checkers corrected, "We only wanted Mr. Messer over here. He put a very good friend of mine in jail and destroyed our relationship, as well as our business." Checkers' face became dark and menacing. "You're going to pay for that Detective. You'll pay for it far more dearly than you can imagine." He looked back at Lindsay and was suddenly all smiles again but a chill ran through both of them at that look. His smile didn't quite reach the frigidness in his eyes. "You, Miss, are here as ah…insurance I suppose. Those boys who brought Mr. Messer wanted to keep you so I had to buy you off them. Wasn't that nice of me?" The look he ran up and down her body was more than suggestive. "Technically, I suppose that means you're mine now."

Danny felt rage boil up within him. "Don't you dare touch her!" He nearly came to his feet in his fury but was knocked back down with a heavy blow from Beefcake's big fist.

"You're not in charge here Detective." Checkers said coldly. "Get used to that too. What I say goes and there's nothing you can do about it."

"It's getting dark." Beefcake said in his gravelly voice, pointing out the window.

Checkers sighed theatrically. "All right, we'll deal with them tomorrow. It's too bad. I was looking forward to hearing them scream." A sadistic smile lit his face insanely as he said to Beefcake. "Especially the girl. The sound of pretty girls screaming is so mesmerizing, so thrilling… Isn't that right, my friend?" He laughed shortly, "But I'm sure Mr. Messer's screams will be equally satisfying. Revenge always sweetens even the most terrible dish, don't you think?"

The two left, shutting the door firmly behind them. "You sick bastard!" Danny snarled at the door. It was clear that they were in the hands of a nut job, a sadistic psycho to boot. And to make matters worse, his partner didn't seem to mind Checkers' obvious madness. That probably meant he was either used to his partner's insanity or he was just as much of a psycho as Checkers was. Danny tried desperately to think who their friend whom he had arrested could be but there was just so many. Danny was sure he had never dealt with any mad people, at least not yet.

While he fumed, Lindsay buried her head into her knees, struggling to keep the tears inside. She didn't regret staying with Danny but the look in Checkers' eyes had brought back haunting memories of another sick criminal. And she wasn't sure that she could escape unscathed again.

And that's it for Lindsay and Danny for the time being. It's back to the lab in the next chapter. Thanks to all the wonderful reviewers! You guys are great!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I have never actually been anywhere near New York in my life so I can't say for sure what's over there… So my descriptions of places might be a little vague…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Don Flack sighed and sat back in his chair, massaging his eyes. He'd been up all night pulling up all of Danny's recent cases since it was clear that he had been a target. Danny was a detective though, and he had a pretty colorful past. The man probably had any number of enemies all out for his blood. It was an exhausting job but until the labs came up with a probable suspect, this would be all they had to go on.

By now, Flack had managed to compile a respectably long list but with nothing to narrow it down, he was about ready to throw in the towel. But every time he thought about that, he also thought about Danny and Lindsay who were out there somewhere, probably suffering at the hands of some maniac. Hell, they could even be dead for all they knew but he couldn't let them down, couldn't let the team down. And besides, it was all too likely that the CSIs at the lab had even less sleep than he did, especially Mac. Flack wondered if the man actually slept at all.

Now, after several hours, Flack decided that he had finished the list in record-breaking time. With two detectives missing, the NYPD had pulled out all the stops and manpower they could to find them again. When it involved one of their own, it always became personal and this time, it was two. His list was long enough for now. It was time to look in on the lab people and see if they had managed to come up with anything.

"Hey Hawkes," Flack called, on seeing the former ME stroll through the corridors, studying the file in his hands. He stopped and studied his friend. "Whoa, you look like one of those people you used to open up." It was true. His eyes were bloodshot and ringed with sleep circles, his face pulled into an expression that definitely showed how sick he was feeling. Hawkes was squinting slightly in the light and his movements were sluggish, almost robotic. All he really needed was a gruesome injury of some sort, probably a nice head wound with blood everywhere, and then he'd pass for one of the walking dead in Resident Evil.

"You're one to talk. You poured all that alcohol into me last night." Hawkes said accusingly. "Try having a hangover and _still_ staying up through the night." He paused and looked closer at the taller man. "You don't look so pretty yourself. I see you didn't sleep either."

"Not much." Flack admitted ruefully, rubbing the back of his head. "I was up all night staring at the computer screen, trying to make a list of possible suspects. All I've gotta say is, I'm surprised Messer didn't get into trouble before this. You won't believe the number of enemies he's managed to make. Some are from his recent cases but I've got a fair number of people he put in jail who just managed to get themselves released. And then there his old childhood buddies."

"Long list huh?" Hawkes nodded understandingly.

"About as long as this building is tall." Flack pointed at the file in Hawkes' hands. "I hope you have something in that file that I can cross-reference with my ever-growing list of Messer-haters because I really want to cut this list down to a proper size."

"I was just about to call you." Hawkes managed a smirk. "DNA came back on the blood smear Mac found on one of the poles. It's a match to a Scott Brown." He handed the file to Flack who studied the picture.

"Never heard of him…at least not yet. My list could still be incomplete." Flack frowned, "This man doesn't have many convictions but it's mostly mugging and robbery with him…oh wait, he's been known to hire himself out on occasion." He groaned. "Great, a hired gun. If we're lucky, maybe we'll find something that can tie him to Danny and Lindsay for sure but chances are, he won't even know who was paying him."

"Well, that's what interrogation rooms are for." Hawkes smiled. "I'll come with you to pick him up." He looked abruptly green in the face and took several moments to force the giddiness that threatened to overwhelm him back where it belonged. "…As soon as we pick up some hangover drug from the nearest pharmacy." He added at last.

CSI NY CSI NY

They arrived outside of Scott Brown's apartment and were just about to knock on it when the man himself appeared at the top of the stairs. He froze when he saw the two official-looking men outside his house. Flack noticed him first and started walking towards him, noting at the same time, the busted lip and broken nose on the man. If he was one of them, then Danny or Lindsay did a pretty good job punching his lights out.

"Scott Brown? I'm Detect-" Flack couldn't even finish his sentence because at that point, Scott bolted down the stairs three at a time. _Dammit, why do they always run?_ Flack thought as he bit back the curse bubbling through his lips. "Hey stop! Stop, NYPD!" He yelled as he raced down too. _Someone's got a guilty conscience…and a lot of explaining to do…_

Hawkes somehow managed to keep pace with Flack, which was impressive considering Flack had longer legs and Hawkes wasn't exactly in top condition. "Hawkes, keep an eye on him." Flack instructed, "I'll cut him off from the other side." Hawkes simply nodded and Flack turned abruptly into an alleyway, dodging trash cans and the like at the same time.

He was sidetracked for a while by an overactive dog who thought it would be amusing to chase after the harried detective. Flack was forced many times to jump over the playful canine as it got in his way.

There, he could see the road just up ahead and above the dog's excited barking was Hawkes, still yelling, "Stop! NYPD!" Flack broke into the crowd, just as Scott blazed past him. Reacting quickly, Flack reached out to try and grab the man but soon saw that that would not be needful. He just had to chuckle at the sight. His racing buddy apparently got so excited at the chasing game that it had completely tackled into Scott and was now bending over his chest, licking his face.

"You'd make a pretty good police dog there." Flack commented approvingly as he scratched the dog behind the ears. He'd always liked dogs better anyway, since cats made him sneeze.

Hawkes finally caught up with them and he was gasping very hard while Flack pulled the man to his feet. The dog was still jumping around, as if waiting for them to once again start their game, his tail wagging furiously. "I didn't do anything!" That was the first thing out of Scott's mouth the moment he met the light-blue eyes of Don Flack.

"Yeah? So why'd you run then Scottie?" Flack asked, "You made my partner and me very tired, and we don't like that do we?"

"I…have got…to do more running." Hawkes managed to say in between deep breaths.

"You're not in top condition for it. You did fine. Almost as well as I would've myself." Flack said.

"Yeah, you're a real poster boy for modesty." Hawkes said dryly, "Who's your friend?" He asked, nodding in the dog's direction.

"I don't know." Flack shrugged, "He thought it'd be fun to chase me around in the alley. Next thing I knew, he was barreling straight into this guy." He stared down at the dog. "If my building manager weren't so strict about pets, I think I might decide to keep him. Any dog that can take down a suspect of mine is a friend."

"Stupid mutt." Scott mumbled angrily, aiming a kick in its direction. The dog hid behind Flack's legs but continued to wag its tail furiously.

"I think he likes me too," Flack grinned. He looked back at Scott. "All right Scottie-boy. Talk. Why did you run when you saw us?"

"I don't like cops." Scott answered sullenly.

"Yeah? Well guess what, we don't like you either. Now where'd you get those injuries?"

"Some guy clocked me for staring at his girlfriend last night."

"Is that so? Then why was your blood at the scene of a shooting last night?"

"What shooting?" Scott replied quickly.

"Don't play coy with me Scott." Flack was getting tired of the interrogation game. "The shooting where a train conductor was shot and two detectives went missing. And no lies. I don't want to have to add a black eye to your collection of facial injuries." He smirked evilly, "Or maybe I'll just let Fido here have you. _He_ seems to want a piece of you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Scott insisted, shrinking away from the angry and evil man and his equally evil canine ally.

"Flack, relax," Hawkes told him coolly. He knew why Flack was angry and he couldn't blame him but hitting a suspect was not going to provide them with any leads. "Now Mr. Brown, we have two detectives missing, possibly abducted or worse, and we find _your_ blood at the scene. Do you want to tell us how it got there?"

"Like I said, I got into a fight." Scott said, "I was taking the train home last night and some dude punched me in the face when he caught me staring at his girl. I got the hell out of there."

"Bullshit." Flack spat, "We know it was you and your four buddies who were there." He produced still photos from the surveillance videos from inside his coat. "That's you, isn't it? Now what do you have to say?" The photos, truth be told, weren't the best in the world but Scott Brown was just barely recognizable as one of the group.

Scott stared at the pictures but didn't say anything.

"Look, we can do this here, nice and easy, or we can go downtown." Hawkes put in, "What's it gonna be?"

Scott looked up at them both defiantly. "Get your car ready then, 'cos I'm calling my lawyer."

CSI NY CSI NY

He wasn't talking. Scott Brown wasn't talking and that damned lawyer of his wasn't helping. This was why authorities hated lawyers, especially obviously sleazy slimebags like this one. Flack scratched absently at the dog's ears as he watched the man converse with his lawyer. It had a strange effect of calming him down and the dog seemed to like it.

"Oh good, I'm glad I found you." Stella said, walking up to him with a folder in her hands. She stopped to look at the dog sitting calmly on the floor next to Flack. "What's with the dog?"

"I'm not sure. He seemed to have taken a liking to me while I was chasing down our suspect. He even took the man down for me. I figured a dog like that deserved a reward so I was going to drop him off at a good shelter but he jumped in the car and hasn't exactly left me since." He smiled slightly. "I kinda like him. I even gave some thought to keeping him for a while, but my building manager is pretty strict about pets."

"Sounds like he'd make a good police dog. Maybe you should drop him off at the kennels and let him join in the training." Stella suggested half-jokingly. She looked at the two men inside the room. "Is that the suspect?"

"Yup, that's Scott Brown." Flack nodded, "But he isn't talking and that lawyer isn't helping. He says he got those injuries when a jealous boyfriend caught him staring at his girl on the train last night."

"What about those pictures we have, from the surveillance videos?"

"The lawyer gave me some crap about how the picture quality was too grainy and could be anyone." Flack sighed heavily. "It's him and we all know it. Hawkes is processing his clothes right now. Hopefully, we'll get something useful off them."

"Maybe they could help." Stella shoved the folder in front of his face. "Prints on Danny's and Lindsay's things came back to an Alan Prince and a Rob Bolden, known associates of Scott Brown. The print on Danny's glasses is still unknown though. But these two characters have about pretty much the same rap sheet as their buddy in there, right down to hiring themselves out if the price is right."

"Great, this is starting to look more and more like they were all hired instead of some kind of personal grudge." Flack groaned. "In that case, they probably won't even know the name of the man who was paying them." He shook his head and stood up. "We might as well get this over with. Let's go pick up those two for a little reunion."

TBC…

Okay, that's the end of this chapter. I think it's kinda short though… Thanks for all the lovely reviews last time round. You people know what to do.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad you all loved the dog. I was actually wondering what to do about him…he was supposed to just get in Flack's way and then disappear but I dunno…he just stuck around for some reason…

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

"I'm getting tired of that man's face." Stella complained as she stepped into the break room where Mac was reviewing some reports. She had just finished a lengthy interrogation with Alan Prince. Flack was taking care of Rob Bolden. It was one of those annoying interrogation sessions where she talked, the suspect smirked and the lawyer came up with a bucketful of crap excuses.

It had been easy to track down the two suspects. There was a diner that they hung out at often and Flack and Stella had wasted no time in getting there. Both men refused to talk, much like Scott Brown had so they were forced to bring them down to the station too where they too, called their lawyers. The only highlight of the day so far was when the suspects found out they had to get into the police car and sit next to Flack's new shadow, affectionately named Fido for some reason. The look on their faces had been classic.

Flack had even gone so far as to suggest that Fido was a 'vicious killer' and contemplated aloud about whether to lock them in the car with the so-called nasty hound. Stella nearly let out a laugh when she heard that. Fido was easily the friendliest dog she had ever seen but the suspects didn't know that and they were highly apprehensive of the dog and flinched when he so much as even moved a muscle.

Now, Stella was making herself some coffee and taking several deep breaths. Mac looked at her curiously, letting her calm down first before he asked, "Are you talking about Alan Prince?"

"No, James Gallaghan, the lawyer." Stella made a disgusted face. "Flack's right, he's the slimiest sleaze bag I've ever met. He's defending all three of our suspects and I'm starting to get very, _very_ irritated of that know-it-all, arrogant…you get the picture." She slumped down on the seat beside him.

"It isn't very unusual for friends to have the same lawyer. One of them probably recommended him to the others at one time or another." Mac commented.

"I know…it's just…urgh…" Stella ran a hand through her curls, "I'm seriously getting annoyed, having to see his face every time I want to question someone. Not to mention I'm getting tired of his lame explanations."

"What did he say?"

"You know I found prints on Danny and Lindsay's things, right? Well according to him, there is a small window between the time the things were dumped and when Flack found them. And he says that by some freak accident, they just _happened_ to be there and went through the garbage and handled all those things. Apparently, when they found the badges, they got scared and put everything back." Stella snorted disbelievingly. "And Scott Brown is backing up their story."

"Now, the lawyer's telling all three suspects to keep their mouths shut no matter what." Stella scowled, "He's bullshitting us. Something like that has a one in a million chance of happening. I know it, he knows it…the whole building probably knows it. But he's not saying another word otherwise."

"It's only a matter of time before they crack." Mac said encouragingly, "He can't keep up all that crap forever."

"But Danny and Lindsay might not _have_ the luxury of all that time." Stella argued worriedly. She stared over at one of the tables, where Danny and Lindsay had their now-famous bug buffet. The whole building probably, knew about the exotic delights Danny had brought in and how only Lindsay would eat it with him. And even more recently, Stella could picture the scene of them having their cold war. In its own way, it had been amusing. They obviously hadn't liked not speaking to each other but at the same time, neither of them was willing to admit they were wrong, at least not before the other did it first.

Mac noticed where she was looking and he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. They'd been friends for so long time now that they could read each other like a book. "They'll be all right Stella. Danny's a tough kid, and so is Lindsay. They'll take care of each other." He smiled slightly, trying to lighten her mood. "It may even help them to get over their fight."

Stella returned the smile. "I hope so too." She sighed heavily, "I just don't like having to sit here, talking to people who refuse to give answers and waiting for lab results. I want to be out there, actually searching…except I know that it's not only a waste of energy but I wouldn't even know where to start."

"Believe me Stella, we all feel the same way." Mac assured her, "And all roads out of the city are closed. It's highly likely that they're still somewhere in the city." He didn't mention the bleak possibility that the perps could've gotten out of the city before the roads were closed. Scott Brown and his buddies were all still in the city, maybe the two young CSIs were too.

Mac continued rifling through the reports while Stella sipped at her coffee, reading from over his shoulder. A few moments later, Hawkes came into the break room, looking triumphant. "Good news Mac." He said, "I pulled a hair off the cuff of Scott Brown's jacket. It's Danny's."

Wide smiles broke the faces of both Mac and Stella. "That's great Hawkes." Mac congratulated him, "It's exactly what we need to shoot holes in their stories. Let's see how they're going to explain that."

Stella took a closer look at Hawkes's face. "Gee Sheldon, you look like hell. You should take a nap or something."

"I'll be fine," He said dismissively, "I just have a little hangover…and I didn't exactly sleep much either."

"That won't do. Grab a blanket and take a nap for a while" Stella said, sounding exactly like a mother. When she took that tone, the team knew they should do as they were told.

"I don't really think…" Hawkes began to object but one look at Stella's glare and he relented. "All right, just for a couple of hours."

"Good, let's go find Scott Brown. Let's see him and James Gallaghan explain how Danny's hair got on his jacket." Stella drained her cup and followed Mac out of the door.

CSI NY CSI NY

"Hey, I heard Hawkes had a breakthrough with Scott Brown's jacket." Flack said when he ran into them on the way out of the interrogation rooms.

"Before we discuss that Flack, why is there a dog attached to your legs?" Mac looked pointedly down at the dog that was looking back at them, his tail wagging furiously.

"Oh you mean Fido?" Flack patted the dog's head proudly.

"You _named_ it?"

"Yeah, why not?" Flack shrugged, "He seems to like me. He hasn't left my side since he helped me take down Scott Brown earlier. He didn't seem to want to get off at the shelter I took him to. I'm thinking of keeping him, but I'll have to ask someone to take care of him till I find a new apartment. Maybe I'll drop him off at my parents'."

"He took down Scott Brown?" Mac seemed impressed.

"Yup, tackled the man and everything." Flack said with pride. His face became serious again. "By the way, I did a background check on our three suspects but they have nothing to do with Danny. He never arrested any of them, didn't live anywhere near them and basically didn't know these men existed."

"So they were hired to do the job." Stella concluded. "I hope they got a name."

"That's what I thought too, so I pulled up their bank account records. Nothing there either." Flack shook his head, "If it was a hired job, they were either paid in cash or their missing buddy is holding on to the money."

"Missing buddy?" Mac questioned, "I thought we only have three of them in custody."

"Oh yes, Terry Chester. I forgot all about him." Stella pointed over at the waiting room where a man was flipping idly through some magazines. "He was with Rob and Alan when we picked them up. We can sort of tell he's one of the group from the surveillance photos but he's not a suspect yet."

Flack nodded in confirmation, "We told him we just need him to come along in case we could get him to confirm their stories. I was just going over to talk to him. Our hotshot lawyer isn't around to tell him to shut up. Maybe I could pry something out of him."

"Sounds like a plan." Mac said approvingly, "Me and Stella will be with Scott Brown if you need us."

CSI NY CSI NY

"_This_, Mr. Brown, is a hair that we pulled from your jacket." Mac said as he pulled out the small evidence bag. "It's a match to one of our missing detectives. Now, would you like to tell me how it got there?"

Scott's eyes widened as he stared at the evidence bag. He opened his mouth to say something but was distracted by his lawyer's hand on his forearm. They exchanged some whispered words that neither detective could quite make out but in the end, Scott spoke, "Honestly Detective, I have no idea. Maybe he was the guy who socked me in the face."

"Now that's not likely," Stella said sweetly, "You see, the way this hair snagged onto your jacket was if you were grabbing his head, or supporting it like you're doing here." She placed a photo of him holding Danny's head while his pockets were emptied out by his friends.

"So maybe I struggled with him a little, so what?" Scott shrugged in a manner so indifferent, Stella just wanted to grab his shoulders and shake it out of him.

"Scott, don't talk." The lawyer, James Gallaghan said. Stella scowled at him for a moment. Could a man get any more detestable? His dark hair was slicked back with so much oil, he could probably skate around on his head. He had an equally oily, smug smile and his suit was so impeccable, it looked like he bought a new one every day.

"Stop lying," Mac said sternly, "You were part of a five-man gang who took down Detective Messer, and brought along Detective Monroe when she decided to get herself involved. I want to know if this was a personal thing, maybe one of you had a grudge against Danny, or if someone else hired you for this. I want answers and I want names, and I want them _now_."

Both Scott and his lawyer stared at Mac for a while and then they had another hushed conversation once again. Finally Scott said, "I was working alone, with some other guys I just met that day. Someone was paying us to take down a detective. He told us where to go and who to strike. It's got nothing to do with Rob or Alan."

_Gotta say something for him, at least he's a loyal friend._ Stella thought grudgingly. Even when he was stuck in a situation like this, he was still looking for a way to get his buddies off the hook.

"Who was this man?"

"I don't know. I don't ask questions like that. I didn't even manage to get a good look at him." Scott said defensively.

"Really?" Stella's look was skeptical, "Did he pay you in cash or did you just take a check?"

"Of course I took cash. What do you think I am, stupid?" Scott leaned forward on the table and glared directly into Stella's eyes. "Rob and Al have nothing to do with this. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." He growled, "I don't know who the rest of the men were and I have no idea who was paying me. You happy now?"

"You must've gotten a name or two."

"They're probably fake. Most people aren't stupid enough to give out their real names to people they don't know so well."

"Tell you what, why don't you just give us those names and we'll find out for you if those men were idiots." Stella slid a piece of paper and a pen across the table with an expectant look on her face. Scott exchanged a helpless look with his lawyer but slowly picked up the pen and began to write.

CSI NY CSI NY

"Terry Chester?" Flack asked politely from the doorway. The man reading the magazines looked up casually and then stood up.

"That would be me." He acknowledged, "When do you plan on letting my friends go? We have tickets to the game tonight and it starts in a couple of hours."

"Sorry, investigations are still pending. We might have to hold on to them a while longer." Flack answered in an official tone. "I just want to confirm a couple of things with you. Is that all right?"

"Hey, it's why I'm here." Terry answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders. He looked down at Fido and immediately shied away from him. "Could you get him out of here? I-I-ah-ah…" He let out a great sneeze that made Fido jump and hide behind Flack's legs, "I'm allergic." He sniffed miserably.

"Of course," Flack agreed amiably although he didn't put much hope in the dog sitting still if he left him waiting outside. "Fido, come here. Sit boy." He smiled when the dog actually did as he was told and he patted him proudly. "Good boy. Now stay here for a minute, all right? I'll be right out." The dog just looked back at him with soft brown eyes and then laid down on his belly, as if going to sleep. "I guess that would work too." Flack murmured in amusement.

"Just out of curiosity Detective, what did they do last night that's gotten all three of them down here?" Terry asked inquiringly when Flack came back into the room.

"We'll get to that in a moment," Flack evaded the question. "Now, were you with Scott Brown, Alan Prince and Rob Bolden last night?"

"Oh yeah, we were having a couple of drinks last night, got ourselves pretty wasted. We must've hit like, three different bars at least. We took the subway home. Scottie was the last one off, as I remember."

"Were you with Rob and Alan when they got off?"

"Nah, they were planning on partying some more." Terry waved his hand dismissively, "They got off first, and then it was just me and Scott. I left him alone when I got to my stop. Scott was more than stone drunk. I ain't surprised if he got himself into trouble last night."

"As a matter of fact, he did. His blood was found at a crime scene where the train conductor was shot in the leg and two detectives were abducted."

"What, really?" This man could make it as a professional actor. If Flack didn't know better, he might actually buy this totally ignorant act the man was trying to pull. "Jesus…but what's this got to do with Rob and Al?"

"Their prints were found all over the detectives' belongings, which were all thrown in the trash. Now, is it possible that your friends were not as drunk as they seemed?" Flack watched him carefully for this one.

"Trust me, they would've mistaken their own dads for a hooker."

"They don't seem to have much of a hangover for men who were completely wasted." Flack commented. "Most people would stay in bed with their pillows over their heads for the rest of the day."

Terry's eyes flickered wildly around the room for a moment, thinking fast. "It's a secret family recipe my mother has for when my dad gets those terrible headaches. It works wonders for a hangover. I sell them some every now and then, it comes in very useful. And as you can see," Terry smirked, "I'm not suffering."

"Hmm, wish I had that recipe." Flack commented absently, thinking idly of Hawkes' zombie state. So far, his story was matching the rest of them, that they had all gotten drunk and then Rob and Alan had gone off in search of more liquor while the other two went home. They must've practiced this story a million times to get it down so perfectly because unless, by some coincidence, they were telling the truth, there was no way their statements could match so well without discussing it with the others.

According to Rob and Alan, they were both extremely wasted and wandered into a station somewhere. Apparently, they had found it to be a funny idea at the time to empty all the trash cans for the janitors to pick up. The first bin they found already had the two detectives' things in it and the two men became interested. They rummaged a bit more and found the badges. According to both of them, that was when they realized something wasn't quite right and dumped everything back into the trash before getting out of there.

It was crap. It had to be the lamest excuse that Flack had heard in a long while. The chances of those two getting their hands on the bags and wallets within that small timeframe of when the perps left and the station master sent a technician over had to be one in a million or something like that. The problem was that they were all sticking to the story like glue. All their statements corroborated with each other so that damned lawyer had a reason to believe that it was true, no matter how unlikely.

"Do you know if any of them own a gun?" Flack asked.

"Nah," Terry answered, "We've all done a bit of time on the inside. We can't get guns with rap sheets like ours."

"Was there a fifth guy with you last night?"

"No, just me, Scottie, Rob and Al."

This was getting ridiculous. He was lying. Flack could feel it in his bones. "Look," Flack growled, stepping closer to the man, "We know that five people were involved in this abduction. Now, two officers…two of _my friends_ are out there, dead or in the hands of a maniac, we don't know. Things aren't looking very good for your friends right now and frankly, your future isn't looking very bright either."

Terry smirked, unfazed. "I don't really mind. I'm sure my lawyer can help to brighten things a bit. You've met him already I believe." He pointedly opened his magazine again and sat back down into a chair.

Flack's nostrils flared with anger but he couldn't say anything. The door opened behind him and then there was the excited barking of Fido as he ran up to the detective, followed by rapid sneezes from Terry's direction. Flack cracked a smile and began to lead Fido out the door, only to find Adam standing there looking curiously at the dog. "Should I even ask?"

"No, because I'm tired of explaining the story to everyone who asks." Flack said shortly, "Get Stella or Hawkes to tell you some other time. So what do you want?"

"We got a hit on the bullets recovered from the scene and the conductor's leg." Adam said helpfully, holding up the file. "I was going to look for Mac and pass it to him but I suppose you would do just as good." Flack opened the file and began to read, only barely listening to Adam's commentary on the side. "I did a background check on him but he appears to be clean, no rap sheet or criminal history but he did go to school with the rest of our suspects. I also pulled up his bank account records since Mac wanted the same of the other suspects. A large amount was deposited just last night. It'll take me a while to find out exactly who made the deposit though." It was impossible to miss the growing grin on Flack's face. "Is this good news?"

"Good? This is great!" Flack would've whooped in celebration if he didn't hear Terry Chester still sneezing slightly in the background. "Wait till Mac hears this. You might've found our last and final thug Adam." Flack clapped him on the back and took the file in search of Mac, Fido still following him like a little shadow.

TBC…

All right! That's it for now. I know…I'm evil but this chapter is long enough and I'm thinking of showing Danny and Lindsay next. So thanks once more to my reviewers and tune in for the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. My laptop crashed…literally… I made the mistake of handing it to my little sister for one minute and she dropped it. Anyway, I just got the thing fixed. This chapter gave me a lot of trouble…I really wasn't sure what to write so it's probably weird…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

_The pain was excruciating… The bruises from the beatings and the abuse had become dark and prominent on her skin, and on his too. He was far more worse off than she was. Their captor seemed to particularly hate him, beating him and whipping him till he fell unconscious. His body had endured so much trauma and abuse that hers seemed light in comparison. Their captor tortured them even more further by making the other watch his sick thrashing of them. He seemed to delight in their anguish and their pain, and especially when she screamed. He told them in that patronizing, sick voice that he got turned on by her screaming._

Lindsay felt a wave of nausea sweep over her as the memories returned with astonishing force. She bent over as she forced down the bile that was rising up her throat. _I've gotten over this._ She told herself sternly. _I'm older…stronger now…I can handle this._ Despite her conviction, it still didn't particularly help her ease the pain of the memories and the old, near-forgotten wounds.

Danny had noticed of course, and he was worried about her reaction to their situation. She'd seen decomposing bodies at its worst, bloated bellies and squirming maggots and everything. She'd been to that bloody crime scene in that Henry Darius case, seen the blood spatter of all those teenagers. She had eaten a dinner feast of bugs and other creepy crawlies. Yet something about their situation was clearly bothering her, scaring her in fact to the point where she actually seemed to be trembling.

"Hey Montana, are you all right?" He asked quietly.

His voice broke through the awful chain of mental images but only for a while. "I'm fine." She answered shortly, staring defiantly up at the only window and their only source of light, which wasn't much. It was getting dark but she could still see the trees outside. Memories of the past and the realities of the present were getting mixed up in her mind. Everything seemed so similar to her past, from this dirty old shack to the crazed psycho whose hands they were in. All Lindsay knew was that she didn't want to be trapped here, not again. She had to get out. Now.

_Their captor stood over them, maniacal grin on his shadowed face. He held a knife…a very sharp knife that glittered like a mirror when it caught the light. The brightness was stained by the crimson blood dripping down like liquid rubies. A long tongue stuck out, licking at the edges, perversely tasting their blood. There was no mistaking the glint in his eye as he looked at her. She shrank away from him. She recognized it immediately. It was her turn to play with him. His hand reached down, coming closer…closer…_

Lindsay's struggling began as only a minor but frantic wriggling of her hands. The window seemed to call to her, offering hope and escape…but it was so far away. She had to get there…they would be saved if she could get to it. That was all she could to think about. Lindsay continued to struggle, harder and harder until the rope was digging into raw flesh.

"Montana, hey," Danny tried to catch her attention. Her wrist was starting to look red and bloody. She seemed to be having a panic attack and he needed to snap her out of it before she hurt herself any further. "Montana, calm down, you're gonna hurt yourself."

She didn't hear him and the sounds of her straining became even more insistent. Lindsay bit her lip as the rope drew more blood from her already bleeding wrists. Nothing existed in the world now except her and her goal of getting out through that window. She didn't even hear the heavy pounding on the door, but Danny definitely did. He stared apprehensively at it, moving slowly in between Lindsay and the door.

Beefcake's gravelly voice came through the door and this time, instead of being mostly emotionless, there was an irritated edge to it. "Shut up in there."

Danny held his breath, expecting that big mountain of a man to come through the door and administer some kind of punishment. Big guys like that had a need to show off his strength. Thankfully, the noises Lindsay was making as she grunted and struggled with her binds died down as she ran out of strength. She was breathing heavily but at least she wasn't hurting herself anymore.

Beefcake seemed to be satisfied that they were following his instructions. Heavy boots crunched against sand and gravel as he walked away. Danny released a long sigh of relief and then he turned his attention to Lindsay and more importantly, her wrists. "Montana, you're hurting yourself. Calm down. We'll work out something together." His voice was gentle, soothing, a tone he didn't use often. But it seemed he was using it a lot nowadays around Lindsay.

Lindsay didn't hear him as another wave of memories struck her.

_He was dead. There was no doubt about that. There was just so much blood…so much blood…no one could survive that much blood loss. Their captor didn't seem to notice and continued kicking at his body, spattering her face with his blood… She could taste the coppery taste of his blood in her mouth…the metallic smell invaded her nostrils…she thought she'd never be able to smell anything else…_

"Montana, you're shaking." Danny exclaimed. Lindsay didn't appear to have heard him. She stared off into space, fear and vulnerability in her chocolate brown eyes. Her lower lip was caught between her teeth and her entire body was trembling, shrinking away it seemed, from some unseen attacker. "Montana!" Still no reaction. "Lindsay!"

She actually jumped when she heard her name and looked wildly around at Danny. For a moment, his face was superimposed with the dead face of her companion and Lindsay's expression was filled with fear and horror. And then, it was gone. Only Danny was left staring worriedly at her.

"Lindsay, are you all right?" Danny asked, glad to have gotten her attention at last. But what was that look that had flickered across her face a moment ago? She looked like she'd just seen a ghost.

"Huh? I mean, yeah, I'm fine Danny. I'm fine." Her answer was automatic, almost absentmindedly.

"Are you sure? 'Cos you were spacing out on me for a pretty long while there."

"I'm _fine_." Lindsay insisted. "I just…I don't want to stay here anymore."

"No arguments there. This place ain't exactly the Ritz." Danny joked. When she didn't respond, Danny saw that her mind was drifting off again. "Lindsay, talk to me. There's something about all this that's clearly bothering you."

"No!" Her vehement answer shocked them both. "I mean…Sorry Danny but this is something I have to handle by myself, okay?" She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"There are things we can't handle alone. That's what we have friends for." Danny said seriously, trying to ignore the fact he hadn't been entirely candid about his Tanglewood connections until he couldn't keep it hidden anymore.

"Friends?" Lindsay looked up skeptically at him, her smile was half-teasing. "This from the guy who told me, on my very first day on the job, in a strange city practically on the other side of the country, to call my boss 'Sir' when he knew full well that the boss didn't like it?"

"I was a jerk, I know." Danny said by way of apology but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. At least she seemed to be getting back to her regular spirit. "But you gotta admit, it was funny."

Lindsay was silent and Danny thought for a moment that she was going to space out again. But then she spoke, "Thank you, for at least giving me a chance to prove myself."

"You earned it. You're a good CSI Montana." He deliberately used that familiar nickname to keep the light, joking tone of their conversation.

"For the millionth time Danny, my name is Lindsay Monroe." Lindsay's reprimand had just a hint of a laughing quality in it. "You didn't seem to have much trouble saying that a moment ago."

"That was a one-time deal Montana." Danny said flippantly, "A pretty name like yours is only used in emergencies." He realized belatedly that she had, quite successfully, managed to change the subject to a light-hearted banter of words. Lindsay seemed really unwilling to talk about her past and he decided that it would be wise not to press the issue yet."

Lindsay blushed at the compliment but she knew Danny called her Montana to tease her, not as an alternative to her name. Still, something about the statement warmed her heart. "Very nice one Messer." She congratulated him.

She looked cute when she blushed, Danny decided. "Why thank you Miz Monroe, I thought so too myself." If he was standing, he would've given her a flamboyant bow.

"You use that line often when you're picking up girls?"

"Only on the very special ones." They exchanged a long look. Lindsay's flush grew deeper and Danny also seemed a little shyer than usual. Not much else passed between them for the rest of the night. They were tired and they hadn't slept much since getting kidnapped off a train, unless you counted being knocked out cold as sleeping. In any case, being caught in a fight and then abducted into the middle of nowhere took a lot out of a person. With Danny's back against the wall, Lindsay laid her head on his shoulder and within minutes, they were sleeping peacefully.

* * *

The peace didn't last long however, and their light-hearted conversation last night almost seemed like a dream compared to the harsh reality that the morning brought all too soon. They were rudely awakened by the loud slamming of the door and without so much as a change in expression, Beefcake picked up Lindsay much like a doll of some sort and went outside. Danny struggled to his feet. "Where're you taking her?" He demanded. His only answer was a heavy boot in the gut from Checkers. 

"We drew straws last night, Mr. Messer," Checkers informed him in a most urbane, polite manner. It was this kind of men who was really more dangerous than the obvious loony cases, because they were so much more unpredictable. You never know when that civilized mask would slip and reveal the dangerous, often violent madman. "My friend got the honor of entertaining the lady today while we become better acquaintances."

"Leave her out of this! Lindsay!" Danny yelled, and he heard her call his name before the door slammed shut.

"Lindsay huh? That's a nice name." Checkers mused to himself.

"Why are you doing this?" Danny asked, scowling blackly at the man.

"I thought I already told you. It's revenge for putting one of my buddies in jail."

"Isn't this pretty excessive? Abducting and imprisoning two officers is gonna get you into more trouble than with whoever it is that I threw inside." Maybe if he kept him talking, Danny could find an opening somewhere and overpower him. He may be tied up but there were ways of fighting dirty, even when bound in ropes. Danny struggled to stand up again but was once again cruelly kicked in the gut.

"You don't remember, do you?" Checkers asked with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Danny wheezed hard, having had the breath kicked out of him. His tormentor wasn't satisfied with just a few kicks to the gut. "I didn't think you would. He was probably just another case to you. But I remember…_very well_." At every other word, he drove his boot down on Danny's back. At the last two words, he ground his heel savagely into Danny's fingers.

Danny let out a hoarse yell of pain and then clenched his teeth together. _Do not show your weaknesses._ That one thought was all he could think about. From outside the wooden shack, there was a high-pitched scream of pain. Danny turned to glare defiantly at Checkers. "If you hurt her…"

Checkers bent down and grabbed his hair. "Who are you to order me around Detective?" He asked maliciously. Danny could smell his acrid breath and the faint tinge of alcohol on it. "You don't have your gun or any of your friends around to help you. You don't even have your shiny little badge to hide behind. You can't even help yourself."

There was another scream from the outside and that tore at Danny even more than the blows he'd received from the psycho who was yanking his head. _I'm sorry Lindsay…I'm sorry…_

He tried to get his footing but he was encumbered by the ropes around his legs. Their captors thought of everything, didn't they? Danny glared at the man with hate-filled eyes but Checkers actually seemed amused by that. His smile only became wider. He let go of Danny's head and raised his foot again when there was another scream from outside, but this time, the voice was clearly not female. That caught both their attentions immediately and Danny felt a fleeting burst of pride. Lindsay must've fought back somehow. He couldn't lose out to her. While Checkers' attention was diverted, Danny struggled to his feet.

When Checkers turned back to the blonde detective, Danny was ready. He jumped and threw both his feet into the man's face. Something crunched under his blow. Danny sincerely hoped he broke the man's nose as he rolled back to his feet. A broken nose would occupy him for a good while. Checkers reeled backwards at his blow and Danny did the same move again, this time in the stomach. He kicked all the wind out of him and Checkers doubled over against the wall, gasping hard.

Danny rolled to his feet again, ignoring the hard knocks he'd received from landing on the ground after each time he had kicked his attacker. _You know, the dropkicks they show on tv don't look this painful._ A few more similar blows and their roles were reversed, Checkers on the floor and Danny standing triumphantly over him, jumping up and down on his back, legs, head and anything else that was available. There were more screams and yells from the outside but now, Danny was more engrossed in his own fight.

He had a fleeting memory, one so faint that he was surprised it still stuck in his mind, of jumping up and down on his parents' bed. It was a ludicrous thing to think of at the time but it was what it felt like. He was trying to jump as high as he could so that he would come down with greater, more painful force and with greater force, the higher he could go. Danny wasn't even sure if Checkers was conscious anymore. He wanted revenge for all the suffering he and Lindsay had been put through so far and honestly, Danny was having fun trying to crunch every bone in the man's body.

The door swung open quietly and Danny squinted in its direction, suddenly apprehensive about Beefcake's return. Lindsay had put up a fight, Danny had heard that, but there was no way a petite girl like her could've taken down that mountain of a man all by herself, especially when she was all tied up to begin with. Danny wasn't even sure if _he_ could've taken down that giant. So he was very surprised when he heard her voice.

"Have you regressed back to childhood Messer?"

* * *

**I'm done with this chapter. Yes, I know I'm evil. More of them in the next chapter though. I hope you guys like the little bit of DL I put in. Once again, thanks for the reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm sure everyone wants to know how Lindsay got away from the big guy so that's where I started. There's a little more of Lindsay's past here…but now I'm starting to feel guilty for making her go through so much…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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**

Lindsay had been dreaming, sleeping very peacefully for the first time in months. Every now and then, especially after a horrible case, the memories would return to haunt her. It wasn't the thing to get over so easily but Lindsay had been sure she had learned how to handle it. However, every time those nightmares came, Lindsay found herself reduced to the shaking, trembling girl who had been too scared to fight back.

Now, as she was unceremoniously dragged out of the shack by that muscle-headed giant, those nightmares returned once more. "Lindsay!" She heard Danny call.

"Danny! Help!" She screamed before Beefcake slammed the door behind him. He leered at her small petite frame. What was going through his mind was easy enough to guess. He tossed her against the ground and stood over her, loosening his belt. Lindsay scrambled to get away but her bound feet only made it harder. Her mind was numb with fear.

Beefcake just smirked and took his time walking towards her. She wasn't going anywhere, not when she was tied up like that. And when he caught up with her, he could make sure she didn't go anywhere until he was done. It was a matter of simplicity to overpower a small woman like her.

Lindsay found herself backed against a tree and the big man was still coming ever closer. A scream escaped her lips as she struggled to get away but he was too close. With an alarming certainty, she knew she couldn't get away from him.

Beefcake considered the shaking woman, trying to get around the tree, trying in vain to put as much distance as she could between them. The bound legs would be a problem, considering what he had in mind. He'd have to make sure she was properly pinned. There were a number of interesting possibilities he could try but he was a simple man so he settled for the simplest one.

He grabbed her shoulder and threw her flat against the ground. Lindsay fought to sit up but she was easily pinned by one big hand that pressed down on her collarbone, just below her neck. Beefcake squatted above her knees, his other hand undoing the knots with a nimbleness that she had only seen with some of the farmhands back in Montana.

Undoing the knots on her legs could only mean one thing. Lindsay swallowed the bile that was rising in her throat as memories assaulted her once again. Her captor then, though he clearly wanted to rape her, had been more distracted by his hatred for her companion. He kept whispering about how he would do it whenever he laid his mad eyes on her, but only when her friend had gotten what he deserved. As luck had it, she had been found and saved not long after her friend died. She had been spared that trauma at least and everyone who knew her had been grateful for that fact.

Memories though, had a strange way of twisting themselves into horrible nightmares and what didn't happen in reality was finished in her mind. She would dream of how those investigators had gotten there too late…of her dead friend coming to life, pouring blame on her out of his mouth as if those harsh words were tainted liquids of some sort…of herself, dead and her soul being tormented for eternity…

The bonds around her legs loosened and the hand now moved on to her pants, tugging the button free and with exquisite slowness, Beefcake pulled her zip. Those nightmares were threatening to come true and Lindsay screamed in their faces, hoping irrationally to scare the nightmares away. Beefcake simply smiled and leaned in closer to her face.

Something broke in Lindsay Monroe at that point. She had taken enough, had been pushed so far that there was nothing her fear could use to scare her any more. Her mind was suddenly very clear and she knew she had to fight back. There was no way she would accept her fate just like that. Beefcake's face was very close and she brought her head up suddenly in a shattering headbutt against his forehead.

_That's going to leave a mark._ Lindsay thought, wincing from the impact. She felt like she had struck her head against solid rock, which, considering the man's apparent mental capabilities, probably wasn't far from the truth. She wouldn't have been surprised if her skull was fractured.

Her sudden defiance had caught him off guard and as he reeled from the blow, Lindsay braced herself and raised one free leg to kick the man where it would hurt most. Beefcake let out a long scream as her foot made contact and rolled onto the ground, clutching at his injured manhood. Lindsay had taken countless self-defense classes since her traumatic experience, and even more since she achieved her shield. Lindsay knew how to take care of herself but just in case, she had prepared for just such an eventuality.

She reached down into her shoe, accomplishing some very tricky contortions as she tried to reach as close to the sole of her shoe as possible with her hands tied behind her back. _I should've thought of this earlier._ Lindsay scolded herself mentally but she had been in a state of near-shock and panic. Besides, there was a secret, naughty part of her that had been savoring her closeness with Danny Messer. Their recent fight had put a definite strain on their relationship.

Finally, she had it in her hands. A small switchblade that had fit neatly in the space between the sole of her shoe and the shoe itself… And not a moment too soon. She could hear Beefcake's labored breathing starting to ease, signs that he was recovering from her powerful kick. Lindsay rolled to her feet and stood over the fallen man, their roles now dramatically reversed. She stepped lightly on his throat, exerting just enough force to warn him that she probably could and would crush his throat if he did anything stupid.

Her hands struggled with the switchblade to cut through the thick rope and finally, she was free. "There," She said with a vast sense of relief washing over her. "Now what do I do with you?" She pretended to think it over. "Hands," Lindsay ordered, a steely glint in her eye and emphasizing it by exerting a bit more pressure under her foot.

Those big beefy hands came up obediently and Lindsay used what she could get from the rope that once held her to tie them securely together. She did the same with his legs and then, as an afterthought, trussed his four limbs together much like how cows and bulls and most other four-legged livestock were tied up on her farmhouse home.

When she was certain that all her knots were secure, just like she was taught, Lindsay finally went to see if Danny needed any help. As it turned out, Danny had it all under control, judging from the last few jumps she saw him getting out of his human mattress. He looked so much like a kid jumping on a bed that she couldn't resist asking, "Have you regressed back to childhood Messer?"

* * *

Danny stared wide-eyed at her as if he was seeing a ghost or something, his mouth hanging open. "Montana, how'd you… But weren't you… Where's…" Danny had so many questions to ask but he couldn't quite decide which one to ask first. He finally settled for, "How'd you get free?"

Lindsay smiled sheepishly and brandished her little switchblade. "Sorry. I forgot I had this with me. We could've gotten loose earlier."

If it had been anybody else, Danny might've yelled mercilessly at them for their oversight. But this was Lindsay, so he looked her up and down, smirking naughtily. "And where, may I ask, did you hide that little thing? Is there a hiding place on ya that I should know about?"

Lindsay blushed and set about to cutting Danny's ropes. "We can talk about that later Danny. Right now, let's just get out of here. Jesus, what did you do to him? He's practically flattened." Lindsay spared the man on the floor a glance. Checkers seemed to be completely unconscious and there was heavy grunting coming through the open doorway. Beefcake was trying to break his binds. Lindsay wished him good luck. She had used those very same knots to tie up a very big and very grumpy old bull once.

"Just testing out the possibilities of alternate options to springs in mattresses," Danny answered glibly. "Humans are very good to jump on, I've found, especially when they're raging psychos with over-inflated egos." The last of his ropes were sawed through and then he was free.

"I don't think we'll be stuffing beds with humans anytime soon Danny. Come on, let's get out of here."

Danny was about to follow Lindsay out the door when he stopped to search the unconscious Checkers. Lindsay looked back at him questioningly and Danny triumphantly held up his gun. It felt good to have it again. Even though he probably couldn't shoot well without his glasses, at least it was in his hands and not that crazy madman anymore.

They passed by the trussed-up Beefcake and Danny whistled. "Damn Montana, they teach you that on the farm?"

"If you grow up on a farm, you have to learn to help out with various chores." Lindsay said as explanation. She stared around them. Nothing but trees as far as the eye could see. "Where are we?"

"Beats me," Danny answered, also staring at their surroundings. They were very deep in the woods somewhere, the trees above so thick that they nearly obscured the sky with their spreading branches. "Which way did we come from anyway?"

"That way," Lindsay pointed to a certain area not far from the door.

"How'd you know?"

"If you were a Boy Scout, you'd know about forest tracking. But obviously, Danny Messer is no Boy Scout." Lindsay teased.

"Glad ya noticed that Montana but that still doesn't answer my question."

She sighed theatrically. "See the twigs on the bushes? They're all snapped, and the grass is flatter than the rest of the area. That shows it's been trodden on regularly."

"Right…broken twigs…I shoulda seen that…" Danny said sheepishly. He started to move towards the track but when Lindsay didn't move, he looked back at her. "Don't you wanna get outta here?"

"Where are we going to go?" Lindsay asked.

"Back to civilization of course." Danny answered without thinking.

"The country isn't uncivilized Messer." Lindsay said, a little annoyed, "And anyway, which way is the city? We were twisted and turned and went in all kinds of circles before we walked here." Danny opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. Lindsay was right. They had no idea where they were and where they could go.

"So now whadda we do?" Danny said at last, throwing up his hands in exasperation.

"We have the upper hand over them now," Lindsay gestured back at the shack with her thumb. "And they know the way back. We can try to pry it out of them." The idea of getting back at the two men was a very appealing one. "Or we can wait here for Mac and the rest to come find us. In any case, this shack is our only reference point. We have nowhere else to go right now."

Danny sighed heavily and ran a hand across his flat stomach. "I hope they got some food."

* * *

Beefcake refused to talk and Checkers was still unconscious. He wasn't dead though, he still had a faint pulse. Lindsay inspected Danny for any serious injuries but except for maybe a fractured rib and lots of cuts and bruises, Danny was fine. Lindsay only had the cuts and bruises but they were fine on their own. And then they had an argument about whether they should give Checkers some first-aid.

"The man was plannin' to torture us," Danny said, "Why should we care whether he lives or dies? Even if he does, I can easily say it was self-defense. _I_ was the one tied up."

"That doesn't mean we have to sink to his level." Lindsay argued, "Besides, it'll go on your record. It'll be better if we do all we can and then he still dies. At least then we can say we did our best." She was adamant on treating him and soon fashioned some kind of splint out of rope and wood around his ribcage. Danny still didn't quite approve and he showed it by rolling his eyes…a lot.

They had then searched both men for any means of communication but they turned up nothing. A further search outside the shack revealed a small cabinet stocked with cans of food and water. So now they had food, all they had to do was get the fire started.

Danny was being more of a hindrance than a help, Lindsay decided. No matter how she told him that random leaves and twigs wouldn't work, and that in order to build a fire, smaller and more flammable twigs and leaves were needed first, he insisted on bringing whatever he could gather in his arms. He even tried to start a small fire of his own, rubbing two sticks together. That had turned out to be a futile waste of strength. In the end, Lindsay had given him the task of opening the cans with her little knife.

The city boy now sat on the grass, squinting at the lids and struggling to pierce through the tin cans. Somehow, either the blade had gotten dull at some point or he just hadn't the strength, or these cans were really made of steel and this was all part of some elaborate torture dreamed up by Checkers to kill them. Danny darkly speculated about the possibility of dying of starvation when all this food was so temptingly close at hand. The look of concentration on his face was highly amusing to Lindsay, who glanced over every now and then and just missing Danny watching her too.

The country girl was on all fours and blowing hard at the small embers she had managed to ignite. She had a smudge of dirt on her cheek and she stared at the tiny twigs with such intensity that Danny was surprised they didn't spontaneously combust. There was one honey-brown curl that kept falling down the side of her face and she had to tuck it behind her ear, only to have it fall in front again. Her faint look of irritability made Danny smile. Lindsay always looked cute when she was angry.

"I'm glad it's you I got stuck with." Danny said after a while. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be in this situation either but if I had a choice, I woulda taken either you or Mac."

"Mac?" Lindsay was confused.

"He's a Marine. He probably knows all kinds of survival tricks." Danny explained. He made a pained face, "Could you imagine what it'd be like if it was Flack? We'd both be doomed out here. Lost and wandering in the middle of nowhere." Lindsay had a brief image of Danny and Flack wandering lost in the forest until they were old and grey and she giggled. "Besides, he isn't as easy on the eyes as you are." Danny added and Lindsay blushed.

"How about Stella and Hawkes?" Lindsay asked, more to change the subject than anything else.

Danny thought about it. "I suppose they would've been fine. I wouldn't be surprised if Hawkes was a Boy Scout as a kid. I'm not so sure about Stella but any of them would be better than Flack." He paused, "You don't need to tell him I said that though."

"We'll see… Who knows? I might need a favor someday."

"You're a cruel woman Montana." Danny grinned.

"Only to men whom I think I might need a favor from." Lindsay said sweetly, "Now get back to work."

Danny made a big snorting sound of disgust. "It won't budge. It's a conspiracy I tell you. Checkers is trying to torture us by getting all this food and putting it out of reach. This thing wasn't meant to be opened by a little switchblade."

"Can-openers were invented fifty years after the invention of the tin can." Lindsay said, remembering the little tidbit of information. "People did fine opening cans until then. Just keep on trying Danny."

Danny glared at the can as if that would make it magically pop open and give up the food hidden inside. _What do I have to do to open this thing? Say 'Open Sesame'?_

Eventually, they got to eat. Both of them were more than a little ravenous by then and they fell upon the food eagerly. There was no sound from either of them as they ate their fill. Finally, Danny sat back, fully satisfied and watched Lindsay finish the last few remnants of her food. There was a question that was bugging him but he didn't know quite how he should put it. One wrong word and she would shut him out again. Lindsay hadn't acted normally during their captivity and he wanted to know why.

Lindsay could feel his blue eyes on her, studying her and she was strangely pleased about that. She also knew he was fingering her switchblade and she could tell he had questions, questions that she didn't want to answer. All of it was in the past and she didn't want to relive it all over again. Lindsay had a feeling though, that he wouldn't let up until he had all the answers. It was one of the things she liked about him, and the reason why he made a good CSI.

"When I was about 15 or so," She began softly but it caught Danny's attention immediately. "Things…happened…" Lindsay didn't want to remember that part and skipped to the aftermath instead. "All I ever wanted to be was a cop but after everything…I became much more interested in forensics. It's a pretty small town we have at home though, and everyone knew what happened to me. They all treated me like I was made of glass for years, even after I made it as a CSI. They all shielded me from everything, even my co-workers. If a scene was too bloody or a case was too sick, I either got taken off or got confined to the lab."

Abruptly, Danny remembered her reaction when Mac sent her to the lab during that Henry Darius case. She had been really upset about not being able to process the scene. "They had your best interests at heart." Danny said slowly.

"I know, but that was precisely the problem. It got very stifling back home. I wanted to get over it but people kept coming up to me and saying it was okay for me to still be upset. They kept reminding me of what had happened, saying it wasn't my fault. I know they meant well but couldn't they just forget about it? It got to the point where I either had to prove to them I was over it or I had to leave."

"So you came to New York." Danny said, "But why New York?"

"It was convenient at the time. The blood spatter from the case that got me Mac's attention was one of the few cases where my co-workers lost the fight to keep me away from the scene, and it was pretty much the last one I worked. When Mac's offer came, I took it immediately. I just wanted to get away from there. I wanted to get as far away as possible, where no one would know about my past. And you don't get much further than New York City. Everyone objected to it but I was coming here, whether they liked it or not." Lindsay stopped and smiled shyly, "Honestly, I was actually pretty glad when you kept teasing me and trying to piss me off…once I got over my anger anyway."

"Wait…you were _glad_ that I was pissing you off?" Danny interrupted, confused.

"I was angry," Lindsay admitted, "But when I thought about it, you were just treating me like any other rookie…one that replaced a good friend of yours. It was just a sign that you, and everyone else, were treating me like any other normal human being instead of some fragile doll… I just wasn't used to being treated normally at first. And that's why I'm not risking all that by telling anyone what happened. I don't want to be treated specially. It's all in the past and I just want to forget about it."

Danny thought he understood, and he nodded. "All right. I won't press you to remember. But you know…if you need to talk about things…you can always talk to me. I promise I won't treat you different."

She managed a smile. "Thanks Danny, but I can't take that chance. At least not right now. Maybe someday…" Her last words surprised them both. Lindsay hadn't wanted to speak at all about her past, not now and not ever. But if it was Danny…then maybe…maybe she could make an exception.

Danny smiled, "I'd be honored." The situation was getting a little embarrassing as they just sat there exchanging looks. Danny rubbed the back of his neck and stood up. "I'll just go take a look and see if Checkers is awake. And maybe Beefcake has had a change of mind. They're our only ticket out of here after all."

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**Yes, I'm finally done with this chapter! It's back to the lab in the next chapter. This one seemed a little weird to me somehow… Anyway, thanks for the reviews!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I just kinda had to reply to one of the reviews. The conductor who got shot in the leg isn't the killer in Risk. The killer was on the train before Danny's, and the one who got shot is the one who was on the same train as Danny was in Risk, when he barged into the conductor's cabin and smashed the emergency breaks. They're two different people. Now that I've got that straight, let's get on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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They had them. They finally had them. Flack wanted to do a little dance of victory but Hawkes was still asleep not far away. Mac and Stella decided that he had to sleep a while longer and Flack wasn't about to argue with them. So when Fido decided to go over to the sleeping CSI and attempt to lick his face, Flack was obliged to lead him away. "Don't bother Hawkes now, all right boy?" Fido barked once and then licked Flack in the face.

"Flack, stop playing with your dog and get over here." Stella said. "So it's agreed then? We'll question these three people separately."

"Tell me again why we can skip Rob Bolden and Alan Prince for the moment?" Flack asked.

"Terry Chester hasn't gone on total defensive yet. We might still pry something out of him. We've already caught Scott, so maybe we can get him to give up his buddies. As for the last guy," Stella smiled, "I really want to see his face fall apart when we bust him on this."

"He's a slippery customer. I'll take care of him." Mac said firmly. "Rob Bolden and Alan Prince are still sticking to their stories like glue but once we get the other three to confess, they should be easy. Flack already spoke with Terry Chester once so he'll do it again. That leaves Scott to you Stella."

The three detectives started to leave the room when Flack remembered Terry Chester was allergic. He knelt down to Fido's level. "Now Fido, you're going to stay here and look after Hawkes, all right? Don't wake him up." Fido answered with a slobbery lick to Flack's face again. Flack chuckled slightly and left the dog to stand guard over Hawkes while the CSI slept.

* * *

James Gallaghan sat alone in the interrogation room, his self-satisfied smirk on his face as Mac Taylor entered. The man was as insufferable as ever and Mac was looking forward to wiping that hateful smirk off his face.

"Detective Taylor," James greeted. "Have you come to talk a deal regarding my client, Mr. Brown?"

"Quite the contrary Mr. Gallaghan. You see, new evidence has come to light, evidence that concerns _you_." Mac laid a photo on the table, the best surveillance photo they had of the fifth and last kidnapper. "You look very different without all that oil in your hair but that _is_ you, isn't it?"

The smile faltered but it didn't disappear. "Detective, I thought we were over this already." James said smoothly. "Those surveillance pictures you have are just no good. That could be anyone who even vaguely resembles me. Is this the new tactic of the NYPD? If you can't get your man, you get his lawyer?"

"You went to high school with all three of your clients, didn't you, as well as a Terry Chester?"

"Yes, I did. We didn't keep in touch after graduation though. We only met up again at a high school reunion a couple of years ago." James' smile grew wider. "That's when I gave them my card and told them to give me a call if they ever get into any trouble with the law. I told them that I'd only charge them half-price but I fail to see where this is going Detective."

"I just think it's a pretty interesting coincidence that all five of the people we see here just happened to look like the five of you." Mac said.

"That's all it is, a coincidence."

"It seems there are a lot of coincidences in this case, like Rob Bolden and Alan Prince just _happening_ to be at the scene after two of my detectives were abducted and just _happened_ to find the trash bin where the detectives' things were dumped. They then left the scene, just _happening_ to miss the officers and paramedics who were rushing to the scene."

"They have some luck, don't they?"

"Don't try me, Mr. Gallaghan. I'm not interested in how you people did it. I want to find my two missing detectives before something happens to them and right now, you people are all I got." Mac said fiercely, putting his hands on the table.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Detective. I'm just helping out a couple of friends who regularly get themselves in trouble. You know with records like theirs, they get into trouble whether they're really at fault or not."

"So you're just doing your job as a friend to make sure they stay out of trouble?" Mac was skeptical.

"That and the fact that they have wide connections. My clientele grows every day." James leaned forward on the table. "So unless you have something more on me than a lousy surveillance picture, I'm walking free." He started to stand up but Mac wasn't done with him. He hadn't even revealed his ace yet.

"Can I see your hands please?"

James froze halfway out of the chair. "Excuse me?"

"Your hands, Mr. Gallaghan," Mac said, "Specifically, the back of your right hand."

Reluctantly, the man held out his hand and just as Mac suspected, there were a couple of cuts across his knuckles. "That, Mr. Gallaghan, is a fightbite. You get it when you punch someone in the mouth and their teeth cut your fingers. Also, the other cuts are consistent with glass cuts. Detective Messer's glasses were found broken at the scene and I not only found prints on it, I also found blood. I'm curious to see if it matches yours, aren't you?"

James smiled tightly. "Nice try Detective Taylor, but I don't wish to give you anything. You're going to need a warrant and you can't get one based on school history and a lousy surveillance picture."

"No, but I can get one based on ballistics results." Now it was Mac's turn to smirk mirthlessly. "The bullet pulled from the conductor's leg matches a bullet fired in self-defense several years ago. The gun that bullet came from is registered to _you_ Mr. Gallaghan."

That hateful smirk vanished entirely. "Hey now wait a minute. I thought I misplaced that gun years ago. You can't pin this on me."

"It's your gun, and it's enough to put suspicion on you." Mac said, "And I ran a check on your bank account. Just last night, a fairly large sum of money was deposited into your account. You're holding the money for your buddies, aren't you?" Mac watched as the man struggled wildly to find some excuse to wriggle out of this. It was no small sense of triumph as the man finally cracked under Mac's stern gaze that filled the former Marine. He was caught.

* * *

"This has nothing to do with Jimmy." Scott protested. "I…I stole that gun from him not long after our reunion. I'm not allowed to have a gun so I stole it from him."

"You're a real loyal friend, you know that?" Stella commented, "But too bad, we've got more than just a gun that's been traced to him. We've also found out that a lot of money was put in his bank account last night…in the middle of the night. That strikes us as just a little suspicious, don't you think?"

Scott was silent.

"In any case Scott, your lawyer is now a suspect in this case so you'd better find another one." Stella said. "Right now, my partner is questioning him and you have my word that he is very good. James Gallaghan has probably spilled the beans already. If I know Mac, he might even be able to get him to confessing about a test he cheated on back in the fourth grade."

Scott muttered something intelligible.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said that Jimmy wouldn't backstab any of us. He's a good friend. He won't turn us in." Scott repeated fiercely.

"You sure about that?"

"Yes."

"James Gallaghan is a smart man, isn't he?"

"He's the smartest of all of us." Scott said with absolute certainty and without any hesitation whatsoever. Stella almost felt pity for this man. He really trusted James Gallaghan and he'd probably been used by him for years now. "That's why he's a lawyer instead of a street thug like the rest of us, working odd jobs just to make ends meet."

"And any lawyer can tell you that the smartest thing to do once the cops have evidence against you is to cut a deal, especially if you have accomplices." Stella told him. "I'm sure that right now, he's making a deal with my partner to bring the rest of you down with him. And once he makes that deal, your statement won't be worth much anymore. It'll only work if you rat him out before he does the same to you." She sat across him and stared right into his eyes. "So what'll it be Scott?"

Scott struggled with himself, a conflict of emotions flickering across his features. Stella could wait. It'd only be a matter of time before he cracked and even if he didn't, she knew Mac could make the lawyer talk. One way or another, they were getting answers. _Hold on Lindsay…You too Danny…We're coming for you…

* * *

_

"I'd figured sooner or later this day would come." Terry Chester said lazily. He was still in the waiting room, sitting in a chair across from where Flack was. "I mean, I'm not as thick as Scottie is, nor am I as trusting. Once he was caught, Jimmy would sell us out. I knew it would happen sooner or later."

"So you'll tell me what happened?"

"Bite him before he bites me, isn't that right?" Terry said with a smile. "The truth is, all of this is Jimmy's idea. It's been his operation from the start. The people who hire us all go to him and he tells us what to do. This time was no different. Someone seemed to have put a price out on Detective Messer's head. There was no particular deadline so Jimmy didn't think of it until he saw him on the train. He pointed him out to us and we took care of him the way we usually do. Everything was doing just fine until that lady detective showed up outta nowhere."

Flack nodded. That was consistent with all their theories so far. Terry continued on to narrate what had happened and Flack wasn't particularly surprised to find that all the evidence had been correct. If there was anything he learned from working with the CSIs was that evidence could be amazingly accurate. What he did find out though, was that it was Terry who had dived under the seats and fired a shot at Lindsay.

"Here, this was the jacket I was wearing last night." Terry almost casually handed the jacket to Flack. "I know you guys can test it for gunshot residue or something like that. It should confirm my story."

This was a gesture that surprised Flack. Not many suspects actually provided evidence by choice. "You _do_ know that you're selling out the rest of your buddies by doing this."

"Jimmy deserves it. I have no doubt he's doing the same thing right now." Terry said, "He was the one that shot the conductor and fired the first shot when the detective was still just sitting there. Al and Rob will understand. They ain't stupid. About the only one who will be mad at me will be Scottie." He sighed heavily at that. "That'll be my only regret. Scottie's a good guy, a bit slow sometimes but he's always trusted the rest of us without question. If things were a little different for him, he wouldn't even be one of us at all."

"One of my colleagues is questioning Scott right now." Flack said absently.

"I wish him all the luck in the world but I don't think Scott will talk. You can try Al and Rob though. They'd be more than happy to help you build a case against Jimmy. We all saw this coming."

"Right now, I'm more interested in what did you people do to two of my friends." Flack said flatly. "They've been missing for almost a full day already or didn't you notice?"

"Oh right," Terry sat back in his chair once more. "So after we left the station with the detectives, we took them to Scott's apartment. It was the closest one. That's when Jimmy contacted the people who had put out a price for Detective Messer."

* * *

"I called the people who put out the money." James Gallaghan was telling Mac. "I always take care of the transactions. I have a clean record, plus I'm smarter. The guys trust me to handle it all. Once things die down, I give them their cuts."

"With a little extra for yourself." Mac guessed.

"Of course, I'm the one who's taking all the risks. They're just doing the muscle work." James smirked. "They get a reasonable amount though, I make sure of that. Gotta keep 'em happy after all."

"So what happened?"

"We were told to bring them to someplace near Central Park. We brought the girl along in case she woke up and made a racket."

"Did you get a name?"

"Are you kidding? We're lucky if our employer even shows us his face. Which idiot would give out his name to people who hire themselves out?" James chuckled. Now that he was busted, all the beans were just spilling out. He'd asked Mac to do what he could for a lighter sentence. Mac didn't exactly make that promise but he said he would try. However, if the other four were against him, there would be nothing Mac could do.

"We met with two guys at the appointed spot. The smaller guy seemed to be the one in charge. The big guy didn't talk much but we knew better than to go up against him. I mean, his friend was about the same size as me but this guy was a real giant. He had to be like seven feet or something. Anyway, when they saw it really was Messer that we had, he asked how I wanted to be paid. I told him as soon as possible, and loaned him my PDA to transfer money online from his to mine. He paid me extra for the cop's gun too."

"I'll need that PDA." Mac said. Their captors had Danny's gun. That wasn't good. If they did anything with it, bullets would be traced back to Danny.

"I thought so." James sighed and laid it on the table. "Do me a favor and try not to completely destroy my hard drive. There are things on there that I need."

Mac grunted a kind of reply and then asked, "What did you do with Detective Monroe?"

"You mean the girl? I wasn't really sure what to do with her. She could identify us and I couldn't risk that. We were agonizing what to do when the guy offered us a price to take her off our hands. I couldn't be more relieved. I got to make more money and got her away from us. As far as I know, they're still together."

Mac didn't know whether to be relieved or worried. On the one hand, Lindsay was probably still with Danny and they could watch each other's backs. Danny was a big boy, he could take care of himself and Lindsay was no lightweight herself. She had tackled many suspects of her own already. But then again, their captors no doubt would use threaten them with each other. Danny was a reckless person at times but if Lindsay was around, he might not dare to act rashly. Whether that was a good thing was another question to be debated.

"Do you have any idea at all where they went?"

"They said they were getting out of the city before you people had a chance to close all the roads. If it helps, they were driving a black covered truck. They dumped the detectives in the back and then took off."

"You didn't get to see the license plates?"

"I wasn't really paying attention." James said flippantly. He leaned forward on the table, his eyes serious. "That's all I've got Detective. What do you say? Enough for you?"

Mac grunted again, "I'll speak to the DA about it."

* * *

Hawkes was awakened by a wet nose poking somewhere between his chest and his neck. He was alarmed to find a big dog snuffling up against him and he sat bolt upright in the couch he had been sleeping in. Hawkes looked around him. He was in the lab. Why was he in the lab again?

And then everything came back to him. Getting rudely wakened by Mac's urgent call and then staying up all night and enduring a terrible hangover, trying to find out what had happened to his friends. He remembered Stella nearly ordering him to take a nap and he remembered that he only agreed to sleep for a few hours. As Hawkes glanced at his watch, he realized he had been sleeping for more than 'a few hours'. It was already late at night…or early morning, whichever he preferred. Lindsay and Danny had been missing for twenty-four hours now.

"Hey Fido," Hawkes remembered the name of Flack's new dog and patted the canine on the head. "Where's Flack? Have they found Lindsay and Danny yet?" It didn't particularly occur to him that the dog had never met Lindsay or Danny before and probably had no idea what Hawkes was talking about.

But Fido seemed to understand perfectly and started tugging at Hawke's shirt toward the door. "All right, I'll come with you. I'm not getting anything done just staying here anyway." Hawkes chuckled and followed the dog who seemed to be taking pride in leading the CSI around the lab. Maybe Flack's evil streak was contagious or something. Fido actually seemed to be having fun leading Hawkes everywhere that the rest of the team wasn't.

"Fido, do you think I need all this exercise?" Hawkes demanded after walking for what seemed to be about the third or fourth lap around the lab. "I want to find Flack, not go on…Hey!" Fido suddenly bolted for the elevators and Hawkes had to run to catch up with him.

The elevator doors opened and Flack had barely stepped out of it when he was tackled backwards by a big dog that was furiously licking at his face. Hawkes caught up with Fido and joined in the laughing with Stella. Even Mac was chuckling slightly. "I swear, that dog has a sixth sense when it comes to you." Hawkes joked.

"Hawkes, you're looking better." Mac noted, looking him over carefully.

"I _feel_ a lot better but did you really have to let me sleep so long?" Hawkes asked, a bit hurt. "Where are we on the case?"

The three detectives exchanged a look. "We haven't found Lindsay and Danny yet but we've got some pretty good leads." Flack said as he stood up, and then held up the bags containing Terry Chester's jacket as well as James Gallaghan's PDA. "And we've even got some new evidence."

"How about the two of you go grab a coffee and you fill him in Flack?" Stella suggested. "We'll take care of processing these things."

"No way," Hawkes took the evidence bags from Flack before Stella could. He took a close look at Stella's face. "The make-up job was pretty good but you're tired too. I didn't notice it before but it's pretty obvious now."

Mac also looked closely at Stella. "Why didn't you just tell me Stella?" He shook his head, "Hawkes and I can process the evidence while you and Flack try to catch a few hours of sleep. I'll fill him in at the same time."

"But Mac," Flack started to object too.

"But nothing. You've all been up for more than twenty four hours and working hard on this case. You're human and you need your rest. I'll make sure we wake you up if anything important comes up." Mac said firmly.

Stella narrowed her eyes at Mac. "You've been up for at least as long as we have Mac. You're human too in case you haven't noticed."

"I took a few minutes to rest while waiting for the DNA and fingerprints results." Mac said.

"Bullshit." Stella said, "You never sleep if a case is this important. Don't try and lie to me Mac Taylor. I know you better than most people. If I need to take a nap, then so do you." The two of them glared at each other and Hawkes and Flack were starting to feel a little apprehensive about the silent tension. Hawkes felt a slight tugging at the evidence bags in his hand and he was horrified to find Fido had the bags in his teeth.

"Flack!" Hawkes pulled at the bags and out of the dog's reach. Fido jumped up to try and nip at it again and Flack frantically tried to catch the dog in mid-air.

"Bad Fido!" Flack scolded, chasing the dog who was chasing Hawkes. The whole scene was so ridiculous that Stella collapsed into a laughing fit and Mac chuckled along. Flack finally caught Fido and the two younger men looked sheepishly at the older CSIs.

"Er…" Flack began hesitatingly, "How about this? We all tell Hawkes what happened and let him follow the leads. We can all catch a few extra Zs, and I'm sure he'll wake us up if he thinks he has something."

Now it was Hawkes' turn to glare at the taller man. "Great, just dump all the jobs on me. Is that what you're saying?"

"Well you can handle it, can't you?"

Hawkes held his innocent blue-eyed gaze for a while longer and then he sighed. "All right. I'll do it. So what's been happening that I need to know about?"

* * *

**Er…just to clarify things here. I heard that you can do online banking with PDAs and stuff like that. I'm not sure if it's actually done but that's how it happened in this story, okay? So that's it for this chapter. Thanks to all my reviewers!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry for the delay…I didn't really like my last chapter and I kinda lost confidence after that. Plus, this particular chapter was pretty difficult to write too. I'll try not to mess up again. Once again, sorry guys.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

**

It seemed to Flack that no sooner had he settled on one of the couches in the break room and closed his eyes, that he was being shaken awake by Hawkes once again. But a quick glance out the windows revealed that it was already afternoon so he must've slept for a pretty long time now. Hawkes had a huge ecstatic grin on his face as he shook Flack's shoulder.

"I think I have one of them." He said excitedly. A whine came up from between them as Fido looked up at the doctor inquiringly, wondering why he was disturbing their rest time. Flack woke up immediately and sat up on the couch, waiting expectantly for Hawkes to start.

"Mac," Hawkes turned to wake his boss up.

"Hold on Hawkes," Flack grinned suddenly, pulling out his phone. Mac was still dozing lightly, Stella's head on his shoulder and his resting on top of hers. This was great stuff to show Danny and Lindsay when they found them, plus it'd make great blackmail material. With a devious grin, he snapped a picture with his phone.

"What was that for?" Hawkes asked.

"I got a bet going with Messer, on when these two plan to get together." Flack explained. "If I phrase it just right, I might be able to convince him that I won that bet."

"Is it similar to the one you have with Stella about Danny and Lindsay?"

"Pretty much," Flack grinned, "Did you want to join in? It's still not too late."

"Leave me out of this." Hawkes held up his hands, "I don't want to be caught in the crossfire when they all find out you have a bet going on all of them." He turned back to the sleeping detectives. "Mac, Stella, I think I got a lead."

They were up so quickly that Flack wondered nervously if they had actually heard any of his conversation with Hawkes. "What do you have Hawkes?" Mac asked.

"I managed to trace the account that transferred funds into our lawyer's account to a Bill Crichton. He's a big guy, and James Gallaghan identified him to be the man who was accompanying the guy who paid them." Hawkes announced triumphantly, pulling out a photo for them to see. "I cross-checked his name with your list of names Flack. He was the brawns behind a drug-smuggling scam that Danny brought down a few years back. The ringleader was convicted at last about a month or so ago but there wasn't really enough evidence to bring down his right-hand men and partners too."

"Mr. Gallaghan also was able to identify the man who paid them," Hawkes gave them another picture. "You're looking at Colin Jackal. Bill Crichton works with him a lot. He's a nasty piece of work. Highly intelligent and very sadistic, a classic sociopath on all counts. He was a partner of the ringleader Danny put away and he probably holds a grudge, but I think he's just taking that as an excuse to fulfill his sadistic pleasures. Several informants have all stated that he likes to torture his victims…all in the same shack in the middle of nowhere."

"So it's very likely that he brought them there." Mac surmised. "Good job Hawkes. Do we know where it is?"

"We know the general area Mac. No one could or would give us the exact location."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Stella stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. "Let's form up a search party and go bring them home."

* * *

"All right, all right," Danny was chuckling over their makeshift lunch. "It was one of those annual department dinner things, you know. And they really went over the top with it this time. I mean it was really extravagant they way they did everything. It was like one of those high-society balls us poor losers always hear about. It was amazing. You know, normally we rent limos and tuxes to events like that but that year, it didn't feel enough. The tux I had felt so cheap compared to what they had already splurged on the decorations." 

"I think I get the idea Danny." Lindsay's tone was impatient.

"So we were just getting started on the party, the dancing and everything, when this bunch of guys, about a dozen of them, busted the door in. They had a couple of automatics in their hands and one of them fired at the ceiling. They started yelling things like, 'Everybody get down! Do as we say and no one gets hurt!' The whole place was silent for like ten seconds, then everybody in the room pulled out their guns and those two idiots gave up." Danny waved his arms around as he narrated his story. "And later while the entire precinct was laughing and booking them for trying to crash a police party, they were asked what gave them that crazy idea."

"And what did they say?" Lindsay asked with a chuckle.

Danny grinned to himself, obviously trying to hold in his laughter. He waited until Lindsay had just put a spoonful of beans into her mouth and then he said, "They said they'd been hired to do it, 'cos as it turns out, the robber act was a part of their routine…as strippers!"

Lindsay nearly choked on her food and ended up hacking and coughing while Danny laughed. "What?" She demanded as soon as she could catch her breath.

"It's true." Danny said, crossing his heart with his fingers, "They were strippers hired by a couple of high class socialites for their bachelorette party…which was the next day."

Lindsay laughed along with Danny at the sorry predicament of the strippers. There was nothing much for them to do here in the middle of nowhere since they couldn't really go anywhere. They had fed their former captors, though Danny had suggested simply letting them starve to death. Lindsay had to agree that they probably deserved it but they couldn't really be responsible for their deaths. With all that time left to themselves, Lindsay and Danny had gotten around to holding long conversations and they had recently come on the topic of the funniest things they had ever seen.

"That's nothing." Lindsay grinned challengingly, "My partner and I were chasing down a suspect through a grassy field. I tackled him to the ground and then kept my boot on him until my partner came to snap the cuffs on him. The whole time, the guy was screaming, 'Lady, hey lady!' I finally asked him, 'What?' I was expecting him to say something like we had the wrong guy or my foot was digging into a sore spot or something."

"So what was it?" Danny leaned close.

Lindsay blushed slightly but she said, "He said, 'Lady, your shoe's covered in crap!'"

Danny howled with laughter and Lindsay joined in, a bit embarrassed this time. "So he had your footprint on his back, all covered in shit?"

"Cow crap too." Lindsay made a face, "That stuff stinks terribly. I threw those shoes away after that incident and spared myself the trouble of trying to clean the gunk off it." Danny collapsed into helpless laughter again.

An audible crunch reached their ears and their laughter stopped abruptly as they strained to hear more. Was it an animal of some kind, or a human? Wait…was that the sound of a dog barking? "It must be the canine patrols, following our scent." Lindsay said excitedly as she stood up.

"Let's hope so." Danny said, standing up too. His hand reached for his gun that he now kept in his pocket and he squinted at the surrounding trees, hoping to catch a glimpse of the newcomer despite his blurry vision. Footsteps became louder and so did that barking. Leaves rustled and Lindsay stepped forward warily.

She caught a glimpse of a tall head peeking over some bushes before a voice called ahead, "Hey Colin, I got your message. That detective who spoiled our business is your new victim huh? Mind if I join in?"

Both detectives froze, their hearts sinking like stones. They hadn't thought that Checkers had more friends. Danny grabbed Lindsay by the arm and moved her behind him. Just as they were silently debating their options, the voice rang out again, much harsher this time. "Get them boys!"

"Oh shit," Danny swore quietly as the barking became very frantic. A pack of four dogs came crashing out of the underbrush and charging towards the two detectives. "Run!" He yanked at Lindsay's arm and they both started running blindly into the woods, the dogs nipping at their heels.

"Don't let them get away!" The voice yelled again and the unmistakable sounds of gunshots rang over their heads. They ducked their heads instinctively, making as small a target of themselves as possible. The dogs continued to chase after them, growling ominously and snapping whenever they seemed to get just close enough.

Danny made a growling kind of sound in the back of his throat and pulled out his gun, turning around slightly to get a clear look at the dogs. Lindsay pushed his gun away. "You can't shoot them." She said between gasps.

"I'm not gonna shoot them. I just wanna scare them off." Danny said, struggling to run and aim at the same time. It was a bit more challenging because Lindsay kept pushing his gun away from the dogs.

"And when you use up all your bullets, all we have left for defense will be my knife." Lindsay argued reasonably.

"Then what do you suggest we do? We gotta find _some_ way to get 'em off our ass." Danny demanded, jumping just in time as one of the dogs chomped down on where his ankle had been mere seconds before. "Humans can't outrun dogs forever Montana."

"You think I don't know that?" Lindsay was thinking as quickly as she could for a way to lose the dogs without hurting them. Climbing up a tree would be the best option, but with someone also on their tail, armed with a gun, that would only push them into a corner. Besides, Lindsay wasn't sure if Danny had ever climbed a tree in his life.

The sounds of rushing water reached Lindsay's ears. "Danny, do you hear that?" She asked.

Danny strained to concentrate on the faint noise and avoid the snapping dogs at the same time. For some reason, they seemed to be homing in on him. What, did these dogs have a sense of chivalry or something? Shouldn't at least one of them be trying to snapping at Lindsay's legs? Not that they should, because that would be really bad but really, it just seemed a little bit unfair. "Sounds like water." He said at last.

Lindsay nodded, "I think I got an idea. Follow my lead." She changed direction abruptly, heading straight for the source of the water. The dogs stumbled for a moment at the sudden change. One of them even tripped as it tried to turn around and run at the same time. The sound of rushing water became louder and louder until they saw it, a small rushing stream. Without a second thought, Lindsay plunged into its deep waters. Danny hesitated but one look at the dogs catching up on them and he jumped in too. The current swept them downstream, leaving the dogs barking from the bank.

* * *

He found them barking madly at the small but fast-moving stream. When they saw him, they turned and began to paw at him, panting heavily and wagging their tails furiously. "Down boys," He said easily, "So they jumped in to get away huh? Pretty smart…" He patted each of them on their heads. "Don't worry, we'll find them later. They can't go far… not in a place like this. First, we need to see to Bill and Colin. Then we'll look for our runaways."

* * *

**I'm sorry it's so short. Again, this was a pretty difficult chapter to write. I'll try to do better for the next one. And I'll upload it as soon as I can, which is hopefully in a week's time. With any luck, it might be sooner but I'll try to keep it to one week.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Okay, here comes my next chapter. Thanks everyone for reviewing. Hope you all like this one too.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

* * *

**

Water rushed past them, sweeping past their ears and pushing them forwards. Bubbles streamed out of their mouths and noses as they struggled to keep themselves afloat and avoid being dragged under by the swift current. Lindsay gasped as her head broke through the surface and seconds later, Danny came up too, coughing and gasping. "This- was some- idea you had- Montana." He tried to yell over the rushing water.

"It got us- away from the dogs, didn't it?" Lindsay managed to yell back. Water gushed into her open mouth and she spluttered it back out. "Let's just keep swimming." She suggested. A startling thought struck her, "Danny, there aren't any- waterfalls in New York State are there?"

"How the- hell would I know? I- live in the- city." Danny yelled back in exasperation. It was pretty tiring trying to keep above the water. "Why- do you wanna- know?"

"Fast waters sometimes- become rapids, and rapids become- waterfalls." Lindsay informed him, finally getting the hang of swimming in the current.

Danny paled slightly at the idea. "No- way, that'd be way- too cliché for- our- situation right- now." He tried to joke. It was his turn to splutter as water managed to enter his open mouth. "How are you doing that?" He demanded of Lindsay who was now managing to swim along with ease.

"Practice Messer. You think- this current is fast, wait- till we get to some _real_ rapids." She smiled slightly at Danny's state. "Just relax. Don't fight- the current."

"Easy-for you to- say," Danny continued struggling, "Damn- I really- hope we don't- come to a- waterfall. That'd- really suck."

Fortunately for them, there didn't seem to be a waterfall in the vicinity so the river finally dumped them in calmer waters where they climbed up a rocky bank. Danny promptly collapsed face first on it and Lindsay wasn't far behind. "I thought you were a strong swimmer Danny." She teased as they tried to catch their breath.

"Don't bother me right now Montana. I think I almost drowned back there." Danny mumbled. "I even had a vision of Hawkes and Sid and Marty all working together on my autopsy. They were debating whether my COD was drowning, shot or bled out from being bitten by those dogs."

The image that popped into Lindsay's head was so familiar and ridiculous that she started to giggle. Danny turned his head just enough to glare at her and that only made her laugh harder. "That settles it," Danny muttered, "The next vic we find floating in the river or something, you're picking him up."

"Hey, I thought we were past the stage of making the new girl do all the dirty work." Lindsay protested but she couldn't help smiling as she said it.

"The new girl status stays until someone new joins the team." Danny asserted with all the logic of a thirteen-year-old. They stared at each other for a while and then started laughing all over again. "We've gotten ourselves into a pretty fine mess." Danny noted, "We're completely lost now, and those dogs are gonna come looking for us sooner or later. What now?"

"We could stick to the riverside." Lindsay suggested. "We might find some form of civilization somewhere downstream."

"Because sooner or later, this stream has to end up somewhere, huh?" Danny smiled, "I shoulda thought of that myself."

Lindsay stood up, trying to wipe the dirt off her wet clothes at the same time. "Let's get going then."

"Could we just wait a while longer? I'm completely worn out."

* * *

"All right Colin, Bill and I are gonna carry you to the road and then he'll take you to a hospital. Ya got that?" He asked. The broken body of Colin Jackal nodded painfully and the two men lifted up the stretcher that they had made up for him. The dogs ran around them, showing the way eagerly for their master.

A couple of hours and several painful bumps later, they finally came back to where they had left their truck. It had been well-concealed by leaves and branches and Bill began to pull them all off the large vehicle. "Messer…" Colin rasped in a voice that, if he had been any stronger, would've come out as a snarl.

"I'll find 'em Colin. I think I got a pretty good idea of where they'll be headed." He assured his former business partner. "I'll get 'em and we'll make them pay ten times over for every broken bone that ya got." He turned to Bill, "Take good care of him all right? I'll give you a call when I find them."

He watched as the truck disappeared into the distance. He was still standing there even after all the dust had settled and then he pulled out a map from his pocket. "Let's see now…that little stream they dropped in has to be around here." He circled the area with a pencil, "And assuming they survived the current, sooner or later they'll come ashore." He knew the smart thing to do would be to follow the river flow right to the nearest town. So all he had to do was get to that nearest town and work his way upstream from there.

He smiled, feeling a familiar rush. Let the hunt begin…

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No, there's still some time before we reach the general area."

"Can't we go any faster?"

"_No_. Now just relax. We'll get there in time."

"I can't relax, not like this. Who knows what kind of hell those two sadists are putting them through?"

"Yeah, it's such a big area…Will we even be in time to rescue them?"

"Don't even think that. They'll be all right. They have to be."

"Lindsay is with him. They should be able to work something out."

"You're right. Plus, she's a country girl. I'm sure she knows all about surviving in places like these. She'll take good care of Danny."

* * *

Danny winced every time he set his foot down, the sharp pain shooting up his leg with every step. One of those damned dogs had gotten in a good snap on his leg, just below his calf muscle. Though he hadn't said anything about it to Lindsay yet, he knew she would notice it soon. She was a CSI after all, and he was already getting a limp in his leg.

"Montana, could we stop for a minute?" Danny asked.

"We're losing light Danny." Lindsay said as she turned around to face him, but then she saw the slightly pained look on his face and she became concerned right away. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," Danny said gruffly, "I just think one of those dogs managed to sink its teeth into my leg back there." He bent over to pull his pants up and reveal the nasty looking bite mark. Lindsay took a sharp intake of breath. It looked pretty deep and was bleeding badly.

"Danny, why didn't you tell me you got bitten?" Lindsay asked as she led him to the riverbank.

"I didn't think it was _this_ bad." Danny replied defensively. "The pain kept getting worse though." He set himself down on the ground and soaked his injured leg in the running waters.

"You could've gotten an infection." Lindsay began to scold.

"I know, I know," Danny started to wash the wound out with his hands. He gritted his teeth as he tried not to touch the sore spots but that was proving to be impossible to do if he wanted to wash away the blood and dirt at the same time.

Lindsay sighed, "You're impossible. Let me do it." She brushed his hands away and tentatively began to clean his wound for him. Her soft touch sent tingles down his spine. Danny gulped and tried to focus on the pain instead of certain other things. Lindsay could feel her muscles tensing on the contact alone. _I can't believe I'm actually doing this,_ she thought. "This would be a lot easier with a piece of cloth or something…" She murmured, trying to keep her mind off the man seated in front of her.

"Yeah well, we only got the clothes on out backs, your knife and my gun. We gotta make do with that." Danny said the first thing that came to mind.

Awkward silence rose between them for a moment or two and then Lindsay threw up her hands. "That's the best I can do. Now all we need is something to bind it with." She looked around at their surroundings. Nothing but trees and other similar green things. Danny noticed her gaze and his lips quirked upwards, ready to make some smart remark about whether country girls knew how to turn leaves into bandages. However, Lindsay removed her knife and started to cut a strip of cloth off her own shirt.

"Montana, what're you doing?" Danny spluttered.

"Like you said, we only have the clothes on our backs. We have to make a bandage out of _something._ You didn't think I was going to make one out of leaves and twigs did you?"

Danny coughed embarrassedly, "Of course not." He replied quickly and then tried to change the subject while she wrapped the strip of clothe around the wound. "What're we going to do when it gets to night time? Are we gonna sleep out here in the open?"

"Well…" Lindsay looked slyly at him, "We could always sleep in the trees. How'd you like that?"

"Do I look like a bird to you? There's no way I'm sleeping in a tree."

"Then it's out in the open, unless of course we find something more comfortable than just sleeping under a tree. With any luck, we might find a cave or something."

"Aren't there bears in those caves?"

"Only sometimes," Lindsay admitted, much to Danny's horror. She laughed at his pale face. "Relax Danny. The chances of us coming upon a bear's den are slight. And besides, more people are mauled by dogs every year than by bears. You've already been attacked by a dog, you can't be that unlucky to come up against a bear too."

Danny groaned, "You just had to say that, didn't you? Now you've gone and jinxed it. Any cave we find will have an occupant now, I'm sure of it."

"Don't be so negative." Lindsay smacked him lightly on the head. "Can you get up?"

"I'm not an invalid. My leg just hurts." Danny stood up slowly and walked a few steps. "I'll have to limp but I should be able to walk."

Lindsay linked her arm with his and smiled a little shyly. "I'll help you. We'll make better progress that way." Danny returned the shy smile with one of his own. It didn't just feel good to have her on his arm. It felt…right.

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**Okay, I think that's about enough for this chapter. It's still shorter than I would've liked it… I liked the part where the team was talking together, although I'm not quite sure myself who was talking. It could've been only a few, or all of them. I'd like to hear what you guys think, so please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay, here comes my next chapter. Thanks everyone for reviewing. Hope you all like this one too. By the way, the timeline is set somewhere in season 2, maybe before Run Silent Run Deep. Since Lindsay has yet to really reveal her deep dark secret to everyone, I'll just let her hint mostly to Danny and try to keep it within the show's plot.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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They stared helplessly at the huge forest area as they passed by. "They're somewhere in the middle of all that? How're we going to find them?" Stella asked. The night was falling fast so they had decided to stay at a local town first and set up a temporary base of some sort. Hopefully, Lindsay and Danny would survive one more night and they would be able to start in the morning.

"That what the K9 units are for." Mac answered, "And we were assured help from the local sheriff. They know this area so we should be able to count on them."

"I wonder if Fido will make a good bloodhound." Hawkes mused, "What do you think Flack? He's your dog."

"He's a dog I've only had for the last two days. How well do ya think I know him?" Flack retorted but he patted the dog affectionately on the head anyway.

"By the way Flack," Hawkes grunted as he tried to shift himself into a more comfortable position in the car, "I realize you've gotten attached to the dog and all but was there a need to bring him along?" Fido was a fairly large-sized dog and he was squeezed in between Flack and Hawkes in the car. Sometimes during the long drive, he would stretch himself out across their legs. Flack didn't quite seem to mind but Hawkes had the butt end, and he was constantly nervous about any 'presents' Fido might decide to drop into his lap.

"Aw come on Hawkes, he's being a good boy." Flack scratched his new dog behind the ears and Fido began to wag its tail in enjoyment, brushing Hawkes' face in the process. The doctor immediately started spitting out the fur that managed to find its way into his mouth.

"Yeah, he didn't mean to do that." Hawkes said with heavy sarcasm.

"Dogs will be dogs Hawkes. Don't mind him." Flack said good-naturedly. He glanced out the window at the dark, shadowy forest and hoped that no matter where the two detectives were, they were safe. Honestly, Flack couldn't think how he would survive a night in a forest but that was probably the city boy in him talking. Lindsay was a country girl. If there was anyone who could survive in the wild, it was probably her. Danny was just lucky to have her.

Wait, did he just see a glimmer in the dark forest? Flack sat up in his seat, straining to see what he thought he had seen but the glimmer had flickered and disappeared in the darkness.

"Flack? Is something wrong?" Hawkes sounded concerned.

"Nah," Flack shook his head. "I thought I saw something. That's all."

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"We have to keep the fire hidden." Lindsay explained to Danny as she covered up the glare of their fire with several rocks kind of like a tower around the fire. "In a night as dark as this, a good fire is a beacon to our location."

"I got the idea." Danny said. They had managed to find a cave to stay in for the night, despite Danny's reservations about something already occupying the cave. Lindsay had sent him in search for firewood at first but had rejected most of what he had brought back. Danny didn't quite understand the difference. Wood was wood. It would burn just as well as the next stick, right? Wrong, according to Ranger Monroe, and she had made him go fishing instead while she went for properly flammable wood. Luckily Danny did have a little bit of experience at fishing. As he had told Hawkes once, he had gone fishing with his dad in the Hudson and though he had hooked something, neither of them was crazy enough to eat something that had lived in the Hudson River so the lucky fish was thrown back in.

As it turned out, not even Lindsay was sure how to turn a stick and a line into a fishing rod without proper bait. She did hint that he could try and dig for worms but without a hook, it was going to be hard to catch a fish. In the end, Danny had tied Lindsay's knife on the end of a sturdy branch and went spear-fishing instead. It was probably one of the hardest things Danny had ever done. Those fish were even more slippery than the wiliest criminal he had ever come up against. Those sneaky little bastards were just so damn fast. Danny knew all about the refraction in water that made his task even harder. He was a scientist after all. He knew that in order to spear a fish, he couldn't aim directly at the fish because of the refraction of light in water. However, it was one thing to understand the theory and another to actually put it into action.

By the time Danny had managed to catch dinner, in the form of two small silvery fish, he was cold and wet and very tired. Nonetheless, he triumphantly showed off his catch to Lindsay and proving to her that even city boys could survive in the wild with a little help. Lindsay had to laugh at his enthusiasm. He reminded her of an exuberant little boy who had just caught his first fish and was showing off to his parents.

And now they were huddled around the small fire Lindsay had made, waiting for the fish to cook. Danny had his hands put out towards the fire. It was really cold and he had been soaked for most of the evening. Luckily, the cave was retaining the heat somewhat so he wasn't freezing. Still, Danny couldn't help shivering. Lindsay appeared to have noticed because then she ordered him to take off his shirt.

Danny blinked a couple of times, wondering if he heard right. "What?"

"Are you going deaf Messer? I told you, take off your shirt." Lindsay was blushing as she said it.

"Why Montana," Danny drawled slyly, making her blush harder. "We haven't even been on a date and you're trying to undress me?"

"Shut up, you're going to die of pneumonia if you leave it on." Lindsay said. She slowly shifted next to him. "We have to keep close and conserve body heat." Danny wasn't going to complain about their closeness. If anything, she was warm and it was a welcome change from the biting cold. "I think the fish are about done now." Lindsay announced at last and handed him the fish on a stick. All kinds of questions about hygiene popped into Danny's head as he took the stick. What if there were termites or some other creepy-crawlies living inside the twig. And who knew what kinds of things that stick had been exposed to? But looking at Lindsay eat her fish, the questions all disappeared. After all, he'd eaten bugs before. This couldn't be any worse.

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He reached the motel just as the sky darkened and the stars began to shine their first tiny pinpricks of light. It was late and those detectives had probably already settled down for the night. It would be best if he took a rest of his own as well. He could always start his search first thing in the morning and work his way upstream.

The man at the desk looked disapprovingly at his dogs all standing around but he tossed a couple of notes at the young man and he wisely decided not to mention it. He was given a room key and he led his dogs towards their room. It was a small town but it seemed things were about to become very busy soon. He noticed a large car pulling into a parking lot in front of the motel and four people climbed out. The word 'police' might as well have been stamped on their foreheads. He'd been doing things like this for so long, he'd learned to recognize cops simply from their bearing and the way they walked. It wasn't anything really specific; just a bunch of little things that when put together simply screamed that they were the cops. The tallest one especially, there was a very authoritative air around him. Even normal people would probably be able to tell he was a cop from a mile away.

They had a dog with them. That was surprising. Was one of them perhaps a dog handler? It didn't particularly look that way but there was no other reason for a dog to be following a couple of cops around. They were probably here searching for the detectives as well. He would have to be careful to steer clear of them. These people were people on a mission. He could see it from the way they were walking. No hesitation whatsoever. They were completely business.

He watched as they went up to the desk clerk and apparently ordered rooms for the night. The barking of his dogs seemed to catch the attention of the tall one and they waved a kind of greeting to each other. When the tall one looked away, he hurriedly entered the room and ushered his dogs inside. That was close. He hoped the dogs hadn't aroused their suspicions. He didn't want any trouble when he started his search in the morning.

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"No, it's not my fault." Lindsay mumbled in her sleep. All that remained of their fire was a few small flames and mostly dying embers. Lindsay was lying with her head on Danny's lap as they both slept. "Carla…I'm sorry…It's not my fault…Never wanted this to happen…"

_She was crying, refusing to believe a word Lindsay was saying. She blamed her, Lindsay could tell. They were standing next to his coffin, both dressed in deepest mourning black. Lindsay could tell she wanted to berate her for even showing up at all but their parents intervened. Lindsay was a victim too, they said, and there was nothing wrong with her wanting to come to her nephew's funeral._

_Nephew…He'd been more like a brother than a nephew to Lindsay. Their ages were so close that they had practically grown up together. Lindsay couldn't believe he was gone. Things had started out so normally…How had it all gone so wrong? It just didn't seem possible that he was gone. But they were lowering his casket into the ground now and Lindsay watched her big sister break down again…The grief of a mother losing her child…Lindsay could never see a weeping mother without thinking of her sister and that horrible incident again._

"It's not my fault…" Lindsay continued to mutter as, in her dreams, her sister continued to hurl accusations at her. "I'm sorry Carla…I'm sorry…"

Her voice shook Danny out of his light doze and he instantly realized she was having a bad dream. "Hey, hey Montana. Wake up, you're having a nightmare." He said, shaking her shoulder. Lindsay's eyelids snapped open and she nearly bolted upright, her breathing shallow and her eyes full of tears. She looked around wildly for a while, trying to make sense of her surroundings and then the memories came crashing back. "Hey, you okay?" Danny asked in concern.

"Danny…" Lindsay whispered as if she'd just realized he was around. She wiped at the unshed tears in her eyes. "I'm fine…Just some bad memories."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Lindsay shook her head. "Not now Danny. I'm not even sure if I'll ever be ready to talk about it. But thanks anyway." She smiled weakly at him.

"It's no problem," Danny grinned his famous crooked grin, the one that made her heart thump faster. "I'm sure you'd do the same for me. I've got a couple of things that keep me awake at night myself."

She stared at him, her eyes filling with tears again for some reason. Did he _have_ to be so understanding? Why couldn't he be that jerk he was when they met? Lindsay didn't want to break down in front of Danny but as the first tear spilled, she knew she couldn't hold it in anymore. Not tonight. With a soft sob, she starting tearing onto his shoulder, letting loose all the sorrow she had kept pent-up inside ever since his funeral. Just for tonight, she could be weak. Danny would understand.

Danny was surprised when she starting crying for no apparent reason on his shoulder. He definitely felt awkward. Girls in tears were among the toughest things to handle on his list, and this one was particularly important. Stiffly, he reached his arm around her and patted her on her back. He might not know what was bothering her but that didn't mean he couldn't comfort her when she needed it the most.

As the sky began to brighten once more, her sobs began to subside and Danny's shoulder was damp with salty tears. But one look at her embarrassed, apologetic smile told him it was all worth it. He was there for her when she needed it and that was what counted.

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**And that concludes this chapter. Not much happening here, to say the truth. Just a brief interlude to all that's been going on lately I guess. Sorry if this chapter took a long time. I had some kind of parental block on my computers that wouldn't let me on the site. It seems to have cleared up now so I'll try to post the next one soon. Sorry again people.**


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